What does a Coordinator Do?
A coordinator looks after a group of houses in the vicinity in which he/she lives. This group is called a scheme.
THE ROLE OF A COORDINATOR
There are three parts to the role of a coordinator:
1. Reducing crime and disorder within the scheme. If this is already at a minimal level, the objective is to ensure it does not get worse.
To achieve this end, it is necessary to encourage all the neighbours to work together. They should take note of anything suspicious and report it to the authorities (usually the police). The coordinator thus needs to develop a rapport with the neighbours. This is done, at least in part, by obtaining their email addresses and exchanging information. The coordinator will receive reports from the police of criminal activity within East Cambs. The coordinator takes note of the report and passes on any relevant information to the neighbours. This lets them know what to look out for and also keeps them attuned to the fact that crime is with us.
The neighbours should report any criminal activity, or possible criminal activity directly to the police. There are other unwanted activities that would need reporting to the District Council. These would include graffiti, dog fouling, noisy neighbours, stray dogs, and fly tipping.
2. Providing an element of care in the community. This does not entail being “meals on wheels” or changing peoples’ dressings, but helping out where possible in cases of need, e.g. if a neighbour has just had a hip operation and is immobile and you are about to head for the shops you can drop by and ask if they would like any shopping brought back. If a family has gone on holiday and the wheelie bin is left out on the footpath push it back as it is a sure sign that the property is unoccupied – this is the modern version of the old problem of milk bottles left on the doorstep. If it is obvious that a neighbour is in need then try to point them in the direction of the appropriate support – e.g. Social Services. It is accepted that this is not as easy as it might sound as it is not always obvious that a person is in need and even when it is obvious they may resist any “interference”.
3. Try to build a community. We live in an age when people often don’t know the names of the family living two or three doors away from them, and thus there is little community spirit. A number of coordinators have arranged coffee mornings in a local grassed area to get people together and get them talking. It is surprising how such a simple arrangement can make a remarkable difference. An alternative may be to hold a BBQ (can be a lot of work) or hold what one coordinator calls a wine and cheese morning – you don’t even have to boil a kettle, just ask the neighbours to bring a bottle and bring any patio chairs and tables. When neighbours get chatting they can often start sorting out problems between themselves. It can be as simple as providing a baby-sitting service or a lift in to town on an occasional basis.
Coordinators should encourage their neighbours to do three things:
A. Check that their safety and security measures are adequate. Some will take the view that it has been acceptable for years so it must be OK. That is not right, crime has increased in recent years and what might have been adequate a few years back is no longer suitable.
B. Report suspicious activity and unacceptable behaviour. This is so necessary now that “bobbies on the beat” are a thing of the past. So many people will see some thing and inwardly say “tut tut” and walk on, or say I have reported this sort of thing in the past and no-one took any notice. However, if enough people report something, then notice is taken. Together we are the “eyes and ears” of the police force.
C. Be more neighbourly. The coordinator can’t do it all, it needs everyone involved.
It is accepted that coordinators have different amounts of time available and thus not everything can be achieved and the “care in the community” and “building a community” may have to be rather secondary, but every little helps.
It is also recognised that the needs of one neighbourhood is likely to be different from the needs of another. Also, coordinators come from different backgrounds, some are, or have been in the nursing profession, some are retired police officers and so on… and thus come with different interests and experiences. For these reasons there is not a hard and fast 10 commandments of what a coordinator should do, or indeed can do.
What don’t coordinators do: they do not arrange vigilant groups to patrol the streets; they don’t apprehend suspects, and they don’t put themselves in harm’s way.
Getting started
If you think you may be interested phone Kevin Evans on 01353 614892 or email kevin.g.evans@ntlworld.com. Either Stan or Kevin – see the Contact Us Page – will visit and discus what is involved and answer any questions you may have. If you decide to proceed there is a registration form to complete*. The coordinator decides exactly the area of his/her scheme and the number of houses to be included. The details from the registration form are then added to a national secure data base.
The coordinator will be notified when this has occurred and then they can start to contact each of their neighbours within the scheme, preferably by visiting them. Since new data protection rules came into force it has been necessary for neighbours to complete a form* to give you permission to hold their details and send emails to them. Depending on the number of neighbours and the time available to the coordinator this can be spread over a number of weeks.
Visiting a neighbour has two big advantages on putting a note through the door: experience shows that there is a much greater chance of having the form completed and returned, and the neighbour does see and get to know the coordinator.
Note, *as an alternative to completing forms this can be done on line
Last updated 11/07/2022