Braintree District
Interested in being part of Neighbourhood Watch where you live in Braintree District ?
Then why not join Us!
Contact us at [email protected].
Braintree District has a very active Neighbourhood Watch, with frequent events and initiatives all aimed at reducing crime and the fear of crime throughout the district.
Braintree District NW distributes FREE Window stickers, wheelie bin stickers, No Cold caller stickers , street signs, promotional pens, and Essex County Neighbourhood Watch Members guides and valid Essex NW badges , 24 hour timers and much more....
UPDATE AS AT MAY 2025
On the 30th April we held our Annual General Meeting which was very well supported and re-elected for another year were:- Clive Stewart Chairman & Treasurer, Simon Attwood Deputy Chairman and Louise Smith Secretary . All the Steering Group current members were willing to remain for another year including our new Membership Secretary John Hedges and we were delighted to welcome Richard Hill , Moia Thorogood and Ian Johnson to the Group. We only meet every three/four months but I keep in touch with everyone regularly..
Our AGM guest speaker was Essex Police Commander Sarah Wright who was brilliant….
Clive Stewart’s Chairman’s report mentioned that we still see members of the community registering with Neighbourhood Watch Network (NWN) which is fine and I see their details as I have access to the NWN database . However when John Hedges contacts them sadly on many occasions we never hear from them at all….It makes us wonder what people think Neighbourhood Watch is all about..NWN covers England and Wales with excellent information but never local NW information..( It is called “Neighbourhood Watch” for a purpose…)
Neighbourhood Watch Members of the year 2025 .Awards were presented to Judy Hill, Ian Johnson and Mike Smith all of whom have been involved with Neighbourhood Watch in Braintree District for over twenty years!!!!
Neighbourhood Watch activities in recent months..We attended a few Braintree District Council events with Judy Hill and Richard Hill managing two and Simon Attwood attending two of which one was at a Parish Council..and I gave a talk to over 60’s at Bures ..Where we have a very pro-active Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator…
Weekly and six monthly newsletters..The weekly newsletter it is a summary of the Braintree Essex Police crime report that we receive from Terry Fowles Essex Watch Liaison Officer ..This is very welcome by all who receive it and is in its 16th year every single week by email …We have a six monthly newsletter which the print run has increased due to so many wanting to deliver copies to their members locally and also neighbours too..and there is an email version too this is also in its 16th year .
Finances..n the past year we had extra funding available from Braintree District Council for Safer Streets Campaign in Halstead which helped to increase membership and we will have £500 to match for Safer Streets campaign in Braintree for 2025/26 ..Our main funding is from Essex County NW Association of £1,000 a year which is the funds from The Police Fire & Crime Commissioner’s Office for Neighbourhood Watch in Essex..
We are determined to reduce the opportunity of crime in Braintree District so if you would like to assist or just want information, please send an email to Clive Stewart, our Chairman on [email protected].
Active Citizens
We have volunteered to participate in "Active Citizens" which is distributing crime prevention information throughout Braintree District accompanied by Essex Police. If you would like more information contact Clive Stewart, Chairman. Active citizens are also beginning to get involved in a variety of roles to help the police such as the Restorative Justice programme
Essex Neighbourhood Watch Association
Our hard working chairman, Clive also chairs the meetings of the Essex Neighbourhood Watch Association, That means that he has to write a report of Braintree's recent activities for the Association meeting.
REPORT TO ECNWA 11th FEBRUARY 2025
Our Steering Group met on Tuesday 21st January 2025 at 14:00hrs at Maurice Rowan Hall and we had 100% attendance ( it was the last meeting before the Annual General Meeting) plus Terry Fowles EWLO and PC James Draper also attended …..
PC James Draper: Once again James was excellent at giving not only an updated report on various Essex Police activities but also answering questions on any local issues which is very much appreciated..
Terry Fowles: Essex Watch Liaison Officer: We always welcome Terry and also how he ensures I have the weekly crime report (as often as he can ) on a Monday..He always gives us interesting reports at the meetings …
Diane Passfield: Essex Fire & Rescue Service : Diane attended our meeting and we thanked her for her report on safety and any extra information too.
I requested that all three can do what they can to attend our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 30th April …
New Enquiries: Yes I still see new individuals registering with NWN and I do make contact with them but sadly we do not always have a reply.. It makes one wonder what they think Neighbourhood Watch is all about locally!! YES NWN do tell people the facts of Neighbourhood Watch and also how to create schemes ( which need our approval) but people seem to either not see such information as important or never read it..In recent weeks two people created schemes on NWN but after hearing from me I was told by one that they were not aware of the responsibilities of a Co-ordinator ( can you believe it as it clearly states what they are on NWN website and they created a scheme but never asked their neighbours to join.. until I contacted her ) and then when she did make contact with neighbours they all declined ….amazing!!!! She said to me she was also “unaware” and that the scheme had to be approved by ourselves ie BDNWSG and so advised me that she was not keen to carry on ( as she had so much to do in her own life ) ..which is fine….But the other person never replied to three emails from myself and although I cannot delete the person (says NWN ) I can delete their scheme..General enquiries are good but again when I explain the basics of NW ( which I have published in my weekly newsletter recently ) very few want to be part of Neighbourhood Watch where they live…What do they think Neighbourhood Watch is all about ???
Safer Streets Campaigns: Halstead & Witham; Although the campaigns are completed and all funds received ( we must have had or shared over £14,000 to raise the profile of NW with Essex Police ) I still have to give three monthly reports to Braintree District Council on progress of Neighbourhood Watch membership..which is fine….
Six Monthly Newsletter January to June 2025 : The newsletter had been emailed and copies were delivered to everyone who was keen to distribute them. This time we had a bigger print run than the previous two issues . One page was dedicated to Essex Trading Standards . I had so many compliments and also I was asked for more copies to be printed to send to Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators as they wanted to deliver even more!
Neighbourhood Watch Member of the Year 2024/2025: After discussing the award at the meeting in January we had three agreed to be given the award..Ian Johnson, Judy Hill and Mike Smith ( who is unable to attend ECNWA AGM being on holiday) .These three have been involved with Neighbourhood Watch for over twenty years in various responsibilities and have never been given an award at any time..so long overdue
Bradwell Parish Council: Our Deputy Chairman Simon Attwood did a talk on Neighbourhood Watch at a Parish Council meeting to an attendance of over twenty five residents however they were there really to listen to PC James Draper who followed Simon A…..Simon did his best and left information on Neighbourhood Watch.
The Parish Council ( who has been receiving my weekly newsletter for the past , at least , ten years) wanted to resurrect a Neighbourhood Watch scheme ..and had asked me to arrange of talk on NW… …
They wrote to me after the meeting saying that they would decide what to do at the next meeting!!!
BT and Digital Service: NWN agreed with BT that they would find local NW Co-ordinators to help promote their new Digital Service (it was managed by Clive Woodward for ECNWA ). I attended a BT one hour training session ( via Teams) and then arrived at a local Library to manage a table with a “BT person” who told me to leave the facts on Digital to him and I can talk about Neighbourhood Watch.
Well ….. I was asked by BT to attend as a customer and can talk about the basics so I did my best on both “jobs”!! However only three people made the event (at which I arrived at 13:30 hrs to set up at 14:00hrs and left at 17:00hrs) ..and I did manage to give out Neighbourhood Watch items of three pens/six monthly newsletters and members guides, and left information in the library too. Well as I was only fifteen minutes away it was so not a big deal..but a day better spent on other things really….
Annual General Meeting 2025 : Our is AGM for 27th April time 13:00hrs to 16:00hrs great place as parking and the facilities are excellent. It is the usual venue Maurice Rowan Hall and our guest speaker is Sarah Wright Commander Essex Police…
Weekly Newsletter : This is in its 15th year every week ( yes Christmas and Easter ) and is a summary of the Essex Police Crime reports I never send the crime reports to any Co-ordinator or NW member ( or ask any EWLO to do so ) and never have or will as I believe that it is important that I make contact with all those who are part of NW locally each week and I can say what I feel is important to advise them of local crime incidents.It works as I often have compliments on the newsletters…
Clive Stewart, Chairman, Braintree District NW, February 11th 2025
Tel 0750 8057636
Email [email protected]