About Us

In 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was stabbed outside her apartment in New York. Two weeks after the murder it was rumoured that 38 witnesses saw or heard the attack, but none of them called the police or came to her aid. This motivated a community response and the very first US Neighbourhood Watch scheme was born.  Word spread and other schemes followed in the States.  

It took a while for the idea to cross the ‘pond’ but in 1982 the first UK scheme was set up in Mollington, Cheshire.  From there the movement steadily grew, with formation of local, and area Neighbourhood Watch groups. In 2007, with the support of the police and the Home Office, the national umbrella organisation for the movement, now known as Neighbourhood Watch Network, was established.  The body responsible for coordination of NHW at the national level is now an organisation called OurWatch.  You can follow their work at www.ourwatch.org.uk  Whilst NHW schemes can be registered with Ourwatch, which is helpful to aid identification of active schemes in any given area, but not all schemes will be registered - the main impetus of Ourwatch is centred on national issues.  Support for NHW at the local level is very much the role of District Associations.   

Canterbury & District NHW Association (C&DNHWA) was initially formed in 1995, though it took a few more years to establish fully and gain charitable status.  We represent schemes, ranging in size from just a few homes to several hundred covering over 15,000 households across the Canterbury City Council area here in the County of Kent - that’s around 25% of the total number of homes in the district.  We do not charge for our service, and provide most signage either free of charge or at very reasonably subsidised rates.  Our focus is simply to support local police registered Neighbourhood Watch schemes, and help them establish themselves to actively assist in reducing burglary and other types of community crime.  C&DNHWA is a member of Kent Neighbourhood Watch the County-wide liaison group which, with assistance from Kent Police, supports NHW at County level.   

Today we live in unpredictable and ever-changing times.  Information Technology, particularly the internet, has transformed the way we live, with communities no longer restricted to geographical locations.  Serious crime is well organised.  Criminals ply their evil trade, in endless form, from every corner of the globe and continue to evolve their deceitful ways rapidly, utilising every advance of technology to do so.  Sadly the unsuspecting, the poorly informed and the most vulnerable in society are especially at risk. To ensure that NHW remains relevant, when the pace of change is faster than at any time in history, we endeavour, as a charity, to be in a strong and trusted position to support Neighbourhood Watch groups across our district and assist them in building connected and resilient communities capable of resisting criminality in all its shapes and forms. 

 updated 2024