There are no hard and fast rules over the number of homes involved, although on average, it tends to be between 10 and 20 houses. The size is entirely up to the Co-ordinator as he or she is the one that will probably have to visit every house several times! The geography of the area may also decide for you (a cul-de-sac, block of flats, or a section or road between two junctions, etc).
The first job is to canvass your neighbours to see if there is sufficient interest. If you have a good response, contact your Watch Scheme Administrator to arrange an evening for him or her to give a talk to everyone. The meeting can be in a local hall, school or in someone’s front room. You may not be able to fix a date to suit everyone; just arrange the meeting with the Watch Administrator and he or she will give you invitation cards to pop through letterboxes.
You will probably have a hundred or more questions about Home Watch:
- Does it cost anything?
- How do we get neighbourhood promotional material?
- How do I mark property? And so on.
The Watch Administrator will explain all this at the meeting, so don’t worry, you’ve nearly completed the hardest part!