Nottinghamshire
Neighbourhood Watch (NottsWatch®) held its annual conference in Sutton in
Ashfield on 6th July 2019.
The free to attend Common Ground Conference was a collaboration between
NottsWatch, Nottinghamshire Police, Nottinghamshire County Council and
Community Organising Notts. The event was funded by Nottinghamshire’s
Police and Crime Commissioner and sponsored by VISAV Limited, the company
behind the NottsAlert.co.uk system.
The Keynote Speakers supporting the conference were Nottinghamshire’s Police
and Crime Commissioner, Paddy Tipping, Deputy Chief Constable of Notts Police,
Rachel Barber, CEO of Community Organising Ltd , Nick Gardham, and Founder and
Director of Himmah and member of Nottingham Citizen, Sajid Mahmood.
Chair
of NottsWatch, Sue Sambells said “I believe our key note speakers demonstrated
at our conference, in their presentations and collaborative answers during the
delegate Q&A session, the common ground that we all share to be committed
to making Nottinghamshire a great place to live. I am proud to be able to lead
NottsWatch, supported by my team, to be a significant piece of the jigsaw
puzzle needed to achieve our aims”.
In addition to representatives from organisations which included Notts Victim Care
and Trading Standards, Mike Douglas, NottsWatch Trustee presented the results
from the Listening Campaign survey. The survey was distributed on the www.NottsAlert.co.uk Police/Neighbourhood Watch
communication system in May this year and 2,336 people completed it.
Mike
Douglas said, “The results identified many frustrations that are well known to
the attending partners, along with some insightful feedback regarding current
issues and areas that Nottinghamshire citizens would like to see addressed.”
During the conference, DCC Barber, on behalf of NottsWatch, presented framed
certificates to nine delegates who had been nominated by Nottinghamshire
residents for services to the community. Additionally, Kate Loewenthal,
Sheila Fletcher and Chris Brummitt were given Active Citizens Awards.
Kate
Loewenthal, nominated by Virginia Rochester, received recognition for working
hard on behalf of the local residents of Lenton, particularly those who are
elderly, ill or for whom English is not their first language to help them
tackle issues in their area. She was the inspiration and the impetus in 2016
for setting up a local residents’ association which has brought the community
together and this year she has taken on the organisation of the Lenton Fun Day.
Paul Macey, Vice Chair of NottsWatch said “the NottsWatch team are all
volunteers with no expertise in putting on conferences. We are delighted
with how the day went and with all of the positive feedback we have received.
Many who attended were keen to do more for a better community spirit and
quality of life, which was exactly the outcome we wanted. I’d like to
thank all of the representatives of the various authorities who took the time
to attend and made an invaluable contribution.”
See the NottsWatch website for more detail. https://www.nottswatch.co.uk/about/conferences/common-ground-2019
