If you are out and about in Retford or Worksop town centres on a Friday or Saturday night you will usually find a group of people in blue uniforms with the words ‘Street Pastors’ emblazoned on their jackets and caps. So who are they?

Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue. It was pioneered in London in January 2003 by Rev Les Isaac, Director of the Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable results, including drops in crime and anti-social behaviour in areas where teams have been working. There are now over 200 teams around the United Kingdom,  each run under Ascension Trust’s direction in partnership with a local management team, the Police and District Council. 

Volunteers from local churches are trained to Home Office agreed standards and work in teams to bring practical caring solutions to late night town centre problems. Street Pastors have become famous for giving out flip-flops to reduce the number of cut feet incidents that often end up in A & E. They help people who have become vulnerable through too much alcohol and clear the streets of bottles and glasses and other items that may be used as potential weapons. They are a calming influence and provide care and seek to help people get home safely. The main skill of a Street Pastor is to listen and whilst it is unashamedly a Christian organisation it is not about preaching but rather practical care and love. It is about getting out of our church buildings into the community and doing what we can, where we can. 

For more information on Street Pastors please contact http://www.streetpastors.co.uk

Retford Team Office: 01777 702344

Worksop Team Office: 01909 530171

You can also find us on Facebook.

Posted on site 25th February 2010

Reporting anti-social behaviour is only a click away for Bassetlaw residents.  Bassetlaw council has introduced a new online form to its web site, which users can fill in to report anti-social behaviour: domestic violence and "hate incidents", chosen via a drop down menu. To access the form click on the following link. Bassetlaw On-Line Services.

Posted on site 5th February 2010

Crime in the rural communities has always been a problem and difficult to police, namely because of the geographical layout of the areas.

Houses and dwellings are usually further away from immediate neighbours and there are not many terrace type houses or blocks of flats. Many farm cottages are in fact very isolated thereby giving the traveling criminal more opportunity to ply their trade.

Apart from the local beat manager and the PCSO, who knows village life best, its the villagers and residents themselves of course!!  This is where local Neighbourhood Watch members could help the situation by observing and reporting anything out of the ordinary. Be nosey and challenge anything that seems suspicious without being confrontational. Observant villagers are aware of goings on in their own village, if something untoward is happening then ring the Police, they will welcome the call and it may save someone becoming the victim of a crime.

With the help of the local neighbourhood watch groups, distraction burglaries and break-ins in the rural communities could be reduced greatly and prompt information will allow police to follow up any leads hopefully before the perpetrators could leave the area.

Posted on site 5th January 2010

Notts Police launched their new single contact number on 27 November.  It is 0300 300 99 99.  This will now be used for all enquiries to Notts Police except for emergencies.
 

In the past having multiple contact numbers has led to some confusion as to which number to use to contact the Police, resulting in some misuse of the 999 emergency service.  It is hoped that having one memorable contact number will help to see a reduction in this.  Although the number has changed, the call handling service remains exactly the same.  The same Police staff will answer your calls, and your call will be directed to the right person, department or Police Station, as it is now. Notts Police are urging everyone across the county to put the new number into their mobile phones and address books.

The 03 number ranges are not for profit and part of the cost is absorbed by the Police Force.

Posted on site 17 December 2009

When Bassetlaw Neighbourhood Watch Association held their AGM in Retford Town Hall on Wednesday 13th May 2009 it turned out to be a surprise for a local man from Sutton cum Lound One of the agenda items was listed as Presentation and on reaching this point in the proceedings, Terry Reynolds the chairman of Bassetlaw Neighbourhood Watch called Harry Hopkins to the front of the meeting.

Harry is the founder member of the Sutton cum Lound Neighbourhood Watch which is still going strong after twelve years in existence . When previous attempts had foundered mainly due to limited input and lack of support, Harry who is both Chairman and Area Co-ordinator of the local group, approached like minded people in the village and set in motion the foundations of the scheme which exists today. The Sutton cum Lound scheme is often used as an example when new groups are formed in and around the East Bassetlaw area.

To mark the occasion a presentation of a clock in a glass mount, inscribed thanking Harry for his services to Neighbourhood Watch, was made by The Divisional Commander for Bassetlaw, Superintendent Dave Wakelin, who himself is an avid supporter of Neighbourhood Watch. Congratulations to Harry Hopkins and his team.!!  See a photograph of the presentation by clicking on the link below.

Award being presented.

                                                                                            Posted on site 20 July 2009

Since the demise of the old National Neighbourhood Watch Association, three years ago, moves have been afoot to create a new national representative body.  This has now been established for a year and is called The Neighbourhood And Home Watch Network (NHWN). Unlike the old National Association, which was run by an Executive Committee elected from the representatives of each county in Scotland, England and Wales the new NHWN executive has ten members, each representing a group of counties. In the case of the East Midlands group the counties involved are Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.

NHWN meet with the Home Office on a regular basis and has been fortunate in acquiring some funding towards enhancing Neighbourhood Watch. 

Every region holds meetings, at three monthly intervals, of representative from each county within that region.  The current Chairperson of the NHWN is also the Chairperson for the East Midlands region.  Bassetlaw and Newark & Sherwood schemes are represented at county and regional level by Terry and Judith Reynolds, our Chairman and Secretary.

To go to the National Neighbourhood Watch Association web site please click on the link below.

NHWN

                                                                                           Posted on site 20 July 2009