Neighbourhood Support has been resurrected in the Top of the South, just after closing down due to funding and volunteer shortages.
The national organisation has stepped into the gap and employed a community advisor for the region, Katie Thompson, to coordinate the network of neighbourhoods and encourage more people to join up, know their neighbours and look out for each other.
Chief executive Louise Grevel says the Top of the South Neighbourhood Support has an extensive network of community organisations and households. So, when it closed at the end of June due to challenges finding volunteers for its governance board and obtaining funding at a regional level, she opted to fund it from the national budget in the interim until a long-term solution was found.
The Top of the South network is based at Richmond Police Station and Louise says its objective is to ensure safer, connected communities. Twenty years or so ago it was known as Neighbourhood Watch, but she says it has evolved into a neighbourhood support organisation far wider than protecting communities from crime.
“It’s having people know their neighbours living around them. Our byline is look out, reach out and help out.”
The organisation works with the police, councils, civil defence and other key stakeholders to ensure everyone living in the community is connected and getting what they need.
“From that, we get the safety aspect. When people know their neighbours and have met face to face, they’ve more inclined to notice when something is not right. It’s going back to those 70s values when you knew all the people who lived in your street, and everyone was connected.”
She says it becomes especially important when there are events, such as floods, when a connected neighbourhood knows how to connect with everyone and be there to help each other.
Funding is increasingly challenging around the country though and hence part of the demise of the Top of the South group last month. Louise acknowledges the work carried out by the previous board and staff members and says the next step is to work out where it heads now. Her vision is to eventually return the Top of the South Neighbourhood Support to local governance.
“It needs some time for a reset and generate a good amount of interest for people to come back and take the reins. I’m very conscious I’m from outside the region and there’s different perspectives around the country about what communities need.”
It’s free to join the network and communities usually have a street contact. She says many streets or communities set up a WhatsApp group or similar for communication and alerts. Details for joining are here.
