Neighbourhood Support

Participating in a Neighbourhood Support Group lets you share information, ideas and insights to help make your community a better place.

Neighbourhood Support (often known as Neighbourhood Watch) is a community owned programme that aims to make our homes, streets, neighbourhoods and communities safer and more caring places to live in.

Neighbourhood Support works closely with the Police and many other organisations to reduce crime and to prepare people to deal with emergencies and natural disasters in their community.

By participating in a Neighbourhood Support Group, you will get information about local crime, appropriate crime prevention and safety advice, and contact with neighbours. Members usually exchange phone numbers and meet occasionally over an issue or simply to stay in touch.

Neighbourhood Support Groups

• Help foster a sense of community spirit, where everyone is respected and valued
• Share information, ideas and insights to minimise the opportunities for crime to occur and to improve safety for families and their neighbours
• Alert neighbours to any criminal activity in their neighbourhood
• Help prevent burglaries and car crime by keeping on eye on neighbours' properties in their absence
• Assist the Police by reporting any suspicious persons or vehicles in the area
• Assist neighbours in times of need or emergency
• Identify local crime and safety problems, and with the help of each other and the many organisations Neighbourhood Support is linked to, resolve them
• Help neighbours to feel more confident and secure.

Comment

Older people have a key role in Neighbourhood Support Groups, providing support to neighbours and in return benefitting from their support.

Seniors have the time and abilities to organise groups and are often at home when younger people are at work, so they can keep an eye on possible criminal activity. Neighbourhood Support Groups also provide social and practical support to seniors in their communities.

Resources

Contact your local Police Station or Council Office to locate your nearest Neighbourhood Support Co-ordinator and collect an Information Pack.

Phone 0800 4NEIGHBOURS (0800 463 444)

Visit the Neighbourhood Support website: www.ns.org.nz