Flintshire Watch scheme wins safety award

Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch Association (FNWA) have won the Community Safety Award at the prestigious National Personal Safety Awards ceremony, which took place in central London yesterday.

Rachel Griffin, Director of the organisers of the Awards, Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said: “Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch Association received their award for their unique approach to community and personal safety. They use distinctive and ingenious ways to get the fundamental crime prevention messages across to the residents of Flintshire and Wrexham, especially children. They also help to make these areas a safer place for those who live, work or visit there.”

For community events the FNWA have a fleet of bright, lively liveried vehicles and full sized live characters. They use a Yfactor vehicle, which is a vehicle that appeals to the younger generation with an array of leaflets and DVD flat screen player. The vehicle is liveried with the pictures of one of its full sized, live characters, Y Ddraig Melyn (The Yellow Dragon). They also have a TFord 1040’s ex Prison van which appeals to all age ranges, old and young known as The Y KOPS vehicle (Youth Keeping Older People Safe). The van is kitted out with vintage pictures and police uniform. A volunteer dresses as ‘Ye Olde Police Officer’ to also help draw in the crowds at events.

Other full size characters used are Billy Burglar and PC HUG (Helping Unite Generations). They regularly attend community safety events and get ‘swamped’ by those drawn to the units and characters. This gives them the opportunity to pass on the vital information on personal safety and crime prevention for both older and younger people.

The full sized characters are also used in an innovative educational way under the Y Kops Project. Schools are visited and the children are taught how to prevent ‘doorstep crime’ so they can then pass it on to anyone older that they know. The three characters act out a scene of a doorstep crime incident. They help the essential information they are learning to be retained.

The annual National Personal Safety Awards – now in their 5^th year - took place yesterday at Millbank Tower in central London. The Awards celebrate the work being done across the UK to help keep people safe from the risk of violence and aggression and provide an opportunity for Suzy Lamplugh Trust to recognise best practice in the field of personal safety.

The Awards were presented by Crimewatch presenter, Jacqui Haimes.

Denise Edwards, Chief Officer, Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch Association said: “Personal safety is at the foremost of its support to the public of Flintshire and Wrexham and we have worked with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to promote personal safety in particular to the estate agents and others.”

Susan Gladwin, Trustee for the Association representing the rural neighbourhoods in Flintshire said: “This is an incredible achievement, especially as this year we celebrate 25 years serving the people and neighbourhoods, working with the Community Safety Partnership in Flintshire and Wrexham, which includes Local Authorities, Police, Fire Service and other organisations.”

Rachel Griffin added: “The judges were extremely impressed with this year’s entries. The range of their work and commitment to personal safety was remarkable and it was hard to choose between them. However, we felt that those who won the awards were truly outstanding.”

Notes:

Suzy Lamplugh Trust works to raise awareness of the importance of personal safety in order to help people to avoid violence and aggression and live safer, more confident lives.

The Trust works alongside government, the police, the educational establishment, public bodies and the business sector to encourage safety wherever people may be at risk - in the home, at work, in public and in schools and colleges, on public transport and when travelling at home or abroad.

For more information about the Trust and the work they do, visit their website

The photograph shows (from left to right): Jacqui Haines (Crimewatch presenter), Denise Edwards (Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch), Alan Johnson (Trustee of National HNW Networks) and Jackie Lee (Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch).