Neighbourhood Watch Week – Neighbourhood Watch Week, 7th – 13th June 2020

Deborah Waller, Senior Communications and Digital Manager at Neighbourhood Watch has shared with us some details on their upcoming Neighbourhood Watch week which will promote community support and connection:

Dear friends

We are delighted to invite you to join us for Neighbourhood Watch Week, 7th – 13th June 2020

This year we are encouraging neighbours to say thank you and celebrate what it means to be a neighbour, the connections we have made, and the importance of staying connected through good and bad times.

Over the past few months, as our lives have all been turned upside down, the word ‘neighbourliness’ has never meant so much to so many. Communities have pulled together to provide vital support and resources, an army of volunteers has emerged, people are learning new skills, and as a result have become more resilient.

Since early March, we have been encouraging people to ‘Be Kind, Connect, Support and Share’ during these challenging times as part of the Community Action Response. As part of the campaign, award winning cartoonist Tony Husband has created bespoke cartoons for the four community actions to show just how important our neighbours are at this time. Tony’s cartoons can be downloaded as posters to display in your window, or postcards to pop through a neighbour’s door, and if you are feeling creative you can draw your very own cartoon and enter it in a competition to be launched on the 7th June and judged by Tony himself.

You can download the posters and postcards from our website as well as Neighbourhood Watch Week bunting to make at home. To kickstart the week, we are inviting you to take part in the Big Virtual Lunch activities, organised by Eden Project, on the 6th and 7th June. The Big Lunch have put together ideas of small things you can do to celebrate community connections with your neighbours such as making your own bunting and spread some neighbourly joy by hanging it out for all to see, put together a lunch for someone or a small food parcel and leave it on a doorstep, join in with The Big Lunch from your doorstep, raise a cuppa, wave a sausage roll or have a picnic in your own gardens at the same time, host a Big Virtual Lunch online from the comfort of your own home, and ideas to host a Big Virtual Lunch over the phone.

Each day between the 7th – 13th June we will be sharing stories on our social media channels and website highlighting the big and small ways in which neighbours have been connecting, sharing, supporting and spreading kindness.

We’ve put together the attached social media pack with posts you can share to support the week both in the countdown and in the week itself. We’ve also attached a press release as it would be great if you could share with your media contacts.

We would love you to help us reach as many people as possible by inviting your staff, partners, and communities to take part in celebrating their neighbours.

#LetsStayConnected.

For more details contact: deborah.waller@ourwatch.org.uk