(as taken from the Neighbourhood Watch manual)

1. Get to know your local Community Beat Manager and Community Contact Officer. They will be your main contact with the police.

2. Encourage vigilance amongst scheme members and actively encourage early reporting of incidents to the police.

3. Receive crime information from the police and distribute these messages to scheme members.

4. Encourage members to be aware of and to put into practice crime prevention measures, home security, property marking, and security devices (videos can be borrowed)

5. Appoint a deputy co-ordinator to assist in the administration of the scheme.

6. Maintain a check on vulnerable households and provide advice to members about dealing with unexpected callers at the door

7. Circulate newsletters and other relevant information provided by the police and other agencies concerned with crime prevention to scheme members.

8. Welcome new members to the neighbourhood and invite them to become members of the scheme.

9. Hold meetings of members at regular intervals to discuss issues of common concern.

10. Maintain an up to date list of members.

11. Encourage scheme members to attend area meetings and conferences

12. Attend cluster group meetings where they are organised.

13. Make a list of local council services with names and telephone numbers to contact should assistance be required from a council department for example to report an abandoned car.

14. Erect NHW Street signs and ensure that are regularly checked.

15. Set up a system to pass messages from the police to members of the scheme.

A few schemes in the County do charge members a small membership fee and arrange fundraising events to pay for watch signs, paper for newsletters, security items and the like. If you intend to handle money you should:

1. Appoint a treasurer to take most of the responsibility for money management.

2. Open an account for your scheme at a bank or building society. Arrange for cheques to require two signatures, yours and the treasurer's.

3. Keep an up to date record of all monies received and spent. A separate note book should be kept for this purpose by the treasurer.

4. Give a receipt to anyone giving money to the scheme. Buy a receipt book from a stationers.

5. Ask for and keep receipts for any goods or services purchased for the scheme. If you spend money for which you cannot get a receipt, such as telephone calls, make a note of the date, time and number called.

6. If you are planning an event, draw up a budget for what you intend to spend and stick to it as far as possible.

7. Do not keep cash in the house, bank it at the first opportunity.

8. Even with small schemes you should present a set of accounts to members at least once a year.

If you have a problem with any of the above, or indeed anything to do with the day to day running of your scheme, remember that your NW Administrator, or police Community Contact Officer will be only too willing to assist.

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