History of Neighbourhood Watch
Soon to come a full history of Neighbourhood Watch in Holywell. For now we are starting by giving out some of the facts about when and why it started.
The first ever scheme was set up by a group of residents from Mollington, near Chester, who got together when a mini crime wave hit their village back in 1982. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Neighbourhood Watch, and today there are about 170,000 Neighbourhood Watch groups, making it the largest voluntary community movement in the UK.
Holywell Neighbourhood Watch was set up by the present Chairman Mr. Barry Lambert in about 1994 as Holywell Neighbourhood Watch and has now been running for 12 years. It was one of the first schemes set up in Flintshire. Barry as a resident of Holywell decided to do something about crime and the fear of crime in his local area, just like the residents from Mollington. From that small beginning it has now grown to cover the area it does. Holywell Neighbourhood Watch were approached to set up Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch. Barry sat on the very first meeting of the working group that were instrumental in setting up Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch. He has, working along with other statutory and voluntary agencies helped in setting up the very successful schemes such as Shop Watch . This started in Holywell but has now been adopted in other areas of Flintshire, and is still very active in dealing with retail crime.
Barry also really appreciates the support he has received from North Wales Police. He has regular contact with the local Community Beat Managers to see if there is any thing that Neighbourhood Watch can do to help them, and in return they have invited the group to attend events such as the very successful 999 days in Holywell town centre.
As more people became members the 'and District' was added to reflect the growth of the scheme in Clwyd as it was then. So Holywell and District Neighbourhood Watch was created. Its area of operation is along the North Wales coast from Flint to Ffynnongroyw, and inland it covers towns such as Bagillt, Northop, Halkyn, Lixwm, Caerwys, Whitford, Mostyn, Gronant, Greenfield and many more of the other communities which make up North Flintshire. But its main base and centre of activities is the town of Holywell. One acheivement that Barry is really proud of is that the group is self funding.
In the past we have had a few small grants but the bulk of our money has been raised by Mrs. Shelia Williams and her band of young people. They continue to ensure that Holywell and District Neighbourhood Watch has the funds it needs to undertake everything from street promotions to target hardening for local residents. Shelia is another of the original members of the group and continues to support it with the enthusiam she had back in the early days. Members have come and gone but there is a hard core of members who regularly turn out to help.
Some of these are young people who enjoy working with residents of all ages. Three of them recently received their platinum awards from Flintshire Local Voluntary Council to mark their hard work and commitment. Also a member of the public wrote to one of the schools that these young people attend commenting on the fact that they set a standard which showed that the majority of young people are good citizens.
The Latest Projects:
HDNW has started a Community Action Team (North Flintshire Community Action Team - NFCAT) and a Youth Section. Its core are young people who are sick of being branded as yobs, louts or the like and are keen to change the image of young people. Any young person who would like to join HDNW Youth Section and NFCAT needs only to email the Chairman and he will send details on how to join and what the youth section does.
The first ever scheme was set up by a group of residents from Mollington, near Chester, who got together when a mini crime wave hit their village back in 1982. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Neighbourhood Watch, and today there are about 170,000 Neighbourhood Watch groups, making it the largest voluntary community movement in the UK.
Holywell Neighbourhood Watch was set up by the present Chairman Mr. Barry Lambert in about 1994 as Holywell Neighbourhood Watch and has now been running for 12 years. It was one of the first schemes set up in Flintshire. Barry as a resident of Holywell decided to do something about crime and the fear of crime in his local area, just like the residents from Mollington. From that small beginning it has now grown to cover the area it does. Holywell Neighbourhood Watch were approached to set up Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch. Barry sat on the very first meeting of the working group that were instrumental in setting up Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch. He has, working along with other statutory and voluntary agencies helped in setting up the very successful schemes such as Shop Watch . This started in Holywell but has now been adopted in other areas of Flintshire, and is still very active in dealing with retail crime.
Barry also really appreciates the support he has received from North Wales Police. He has regular contact with the local Community Beat Managers to see if there is any thing that Neighbourhood Watch can do to help them, and in return they have invited the group to attend events such as the very successful 999 days in Holywell town centre.
As more people became members the 'and District' was added to reflect the growth of the scheme in Clwyd as it was then. So Holywell and District Neighbourhood Watch was created. Its area of operation is along the North Wales coast from Flint to Ffynnongroyw, and inland it covers towns such as Bagillt, Northop, Halkyn, Lixwm, Caerwys, Whitford, Mostyn, Gronant, Greenfield and many more of the other communities which make up North Flintshire. But its main base and centre of activities is the town of Holywell. One acheivement that Barry is really proud of is that the group is self funding.
In the past we have had a few small grants but the bulk of our money has been raised by Mrs. Shelia Williams and her band of young people. They continue to ensure that Holywell and District Neighbourhood Watch has the funds it needs to undertake everything from street promotions to target hardening for local residents. Shelia is another of the original members of the group and continues to support it with the enthusiam she had back in the early days. Members have come and gone but there is a hard core of members who regularly turn out to help.
Some of these are young people who enjoy working with residents of all ages. Three of them recently received their platinum awards from Flintshire Local Voluntary Council to mark their hard work and commitment. Also a member of the public wrote to one of the schools that these young people attend commenting on the fact that they set a standard which showed that the majority of young people are good citizens.
The Latest Projects:
HDNW has started a Community Action Team (North Flintshire Community Action Team - NFCAT) and a Youth Section. Its core are young people who are sick of being branded as yobs, louts or the like and are keen to change the image of young people. Any young person who would like to join HDNW Youth Section and NFCAT needs only to email the Chairman and he will send details on how to join and what the youth section does.
The picture above shows that even our hard working Youth Team are allowed to have a break now and again to sample the "local produce". They were assisting Shelia with her fund raising.