Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch is an independent charity and the largest volunteer crime prevention movement across England and Wales. It aims to reduce the opportunity for crime, the fear of crime, and to build stronger and more resilient communities wherever it operates.

Neighbourhood Watch helps its members to:

• Take the right action if crime or other emergencies occur
• Find ways to make their community safer
• Promote awareness of others who may need help or advice

Neighbourhood Watch is not about being a hero, being nosy, becoming a vigilante or working for the Police or the Council.

Neighbourhood Watch schemes

A Neighbourhood Watch scheme is a group of neighbours working together with their coordinator to prevent crime and strengthen community relationships. Each coordinator registers their scheme on the national database and defines a geographical area for their scheme membership.

Each scheme liaises with their local safer neighbourhood policing team and the Council, following a nationally agreed framework, but is run entirely by local coordinators and their members. 

In Wandsworth, schemes are coordinated by the Wandsworth Neighbourhood Watch Association and supported both financially and with resources from the Council’s Community Safety Team.

You can play your part by becoming an individual member of Neighbourhood Watch and joining your nearest scheme; membership is open to everyone and is completely free. 

Reducing crime

Watch coordinators are in regular contact with the local Police so minor problems can be dealt with before they develop into something more serious. Being part of an active community helps deter criminals. Neighbourhood Watch delivers crime prevention and home safety advice directly to all their registered members.

If you are covered by a Watch scheme, you are less likely to be a victim of burglary, which is why some insurance companies may offer discounts on home contents insurance if you are a member. 

Join, start or contact a Neighbourhood Watch

You may be covered by an existing Watch. Enter your postcode to see if your location is covered by a Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

If you previously ran a Watch before the national scheme centralised their records, and your scheme was not documented then, you may wish to register your scheme now so that people in the area can find you using the postcode search.

If your road is not covered by a Watch, you can consider becoming a coordinator and starting a new Watch scheme. To do this you must first join online as an individual Neighbourhood Watch member. 

Become a coordinator

A Watch coordinator is a point of contact for residents. They manage membership of their scheme and distribute hyper-local information to their members. The coordinator is also the point of contact for agencies who work alongside the Watch, such as local residents’ associations and other local groups. Find out more about becoming a coordinator.

If you have any questions, contact the Community Safety Service team or the Wandsworth Neighbourhood Watch Association at WandsworthNWAssociation@gmail.com.

Support for Watch members

We can install street signs in roads covered by Watch schemes if the residents want them. This shows the community is working together to prevent crime. If you are a registered scheme coordinator and would like us to put up Neighbourhood Watch signs in your area, contact the Community Safety Service team.

Window stickers will also be available in 2024.