News

Read the latest news about the Safer Hastings Partnership, our recent achievements and new initiatives here…

Neighbourhood Policing: A Name For Every Ward

October 2007
NEIGHBOURHOOD Policing is starting to make a real difference to communities in wards across Hastings. It is about putting the local community - your needs, your issues and priorities - at the heart of local policing.

Many local residents have taken the opportunity to attend the numerous street meetings being held by Hastings Neighbourhood Specialist Team in wards across Hastings & St Leonards.

These are extremely helpful in enabling us to identify local issues of concern and agreeing ways to tackle them. Many of you are also taking advantage of being able to contact your local officer via the Sussex Police website (www.sussex.police.uk) to discuss your concerns.

In August, the Neighbourhood Specialist pages were the most popular on the website, receiving 12,420 hits. If you haven’t visited the site yet, do take a look and discover how easy it is to contact your local officer.

Using street meetings, questionnaires and surgeries, we now have an Action Plan for each ward detailing the three priority areas the community in each ward want to see tackled over the coming three months.

Contact your local officer to discover the current priorities for your area and take advantage of the opportunity to contribute to the next Action Plan.

Inspector Mark Callaghan, who leads the Hastings Neighbourhood Specialist Team, said, “It is fantastic to see so manymembers of the community coming to the street meetings and telling us their priorities for the area.

“But there are still a great many people who do not come and make their views known. There are now such varied ways to contact us and give us your opinion that even those who do not have time to attend meetings can have a say over the phone or via email.

“If you want to make a difference to the quality of life in your ward, tell us what concerns you. The more people who contact us, the better we can understand and do something about the issues of concern.”

To contact your local PCSO, call: 0845
60 70 999, followed by their extension.

SHP becomes first to win Home Office Award for tackling the fear of crime

September 2007
THE SAFER Hastings Partnership has become the first Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) to win one of the Home Office’s prestigious Tilley Awards, and is also the first organisation to ever win a Tilley Award for work to tackle
the fear of crime.

The Tilley Awards were set up in 1999 to encourage and recognise excellence in crime reduction using problem-oriented principles (POP), and are funded by the Home Office.

As one of the winners, the SHP was invited to run an hour-long workshop twice at the UK POP Conference in Birmingham in September 2007.

Professor Nick Tilley and TV presenter Nick Ross presented the SHP with a trophy and a cheque for £1,500 to enable
the Partnership's Communications Manager, Natalie Williams, to travel to the international POP conference in the USA at the end of September.

Vernon Coaker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Reduction, praised our work, saying, "The Safer Hastings Partnership demonstrated how a local, tailored communication strategy was targeted at residents of Hastings.
It was designed to promote positive images of the town. It made residents feel safer and more confident about crime
reduction. This project has been successfully replicated in other places."

Mike Fagan, Community Safety Manager with the SHP, said, "All of us at the Safer Hastings Partnership are delighted to have been recognised at this national level and this was due, in particular, to the outstanding work of our Communications Manager Natalie Williams."

The Home Office received 88 entries - more than ever before - and judges praised the SHP's work as "imaginative", "important" and "innovative".

To read more about the SHP's work to tackle the fear of crime, click here...

Shape crime reduction priorities – and win £100!

August 2007
Residents of Hastings & St Leonards once again have the opportunity to shape crime reduction priorities for the town by completing the Safer Hastings Partnership’s annual Fear of Crime Survey.

Those who fill in their name and contact details also have the chance to win £100.

Launched on Monday 6th August, the survey is now online (click here to be taken to the Survey page) or, for those who do not have Internet access, it will be printed in the Hastings Observer on August 31st and again on September 14th. The printed version can be posted to the Safer Hastings Partnership (care of Hastings Police Station), or can be placed in the marked box in the Hastings Information Centre.

The Safer Hastings Partnership uses these surveys each year to find out which issues are most important to residents, and to assess the level of success of particular initiatives. The findings of this survey are used to shape the SHP’s crime reduction priorities for the following year.

Last year’s survey found increases in the number of residents feeling safe walking alone at night and during the day, both in the area in which they live and in the town centre.

The survey became available online for the first time last year, and 73% of respondents filled it in via the Internet rather than the printed version.

The closing date for completed surveys is 31st October 2007.

Filling in contact details is optional, but those who do will be entered into the prize draw to win £100. The winner will be drawn at random in November 2007, and will therefore receive the cheque in time for Christmas shopping!

Mike Fagan, Community Safety Manager with the SHP, said, “Our annual Fear of Crime Survey is an important tool we use to make sure we understand which issues most concern residents of Hastings & St Leonards. By analysing the results, we are able to set our targets and resources accordingly to make a real difference to improving the issues that affect our residents’ quality of life.”

Digital camcorder, Wii or MP4 for you & your school

August 2007
FOLLOWING the huge success of last year’s Safer Hastings Partnership (SHP) schools competition, we are now inviting pupils from all schools and colleges across Hastings & St Leonards to enter the SHP Schools Competition 2007.

This year’s competition gives local pupils the chance to win a Nintendo Wii games console, MP4 player or Odeon Hastings cinema tickets for themselves, plus a digital camcorder for their school or college.

All students are asked to do is come up with ideas for a 30-second film clip for the
Partnership’s award-winning 11-screen community TV network, SHP-TV.

Sponsors of the competition this year are Odeon Hastings, Network Rail, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and Sussex Police Authority.

Pupils are invited to submit storyboards outlining their idea for a short film clip about the following categories: Railway Safety, Fire & Road Safety and Anti-Social Behaviour.

The winning primary school, secondary school and 6th form/ college storyboards will then be made into film clips and played on SHP-TV for three months, featuring the name of the winning pupil and their school or college’s logo.

After the success of last year’s competition, this year we have a Senior Home Office Official sitting on the judging panel, along with the High Sheriff of East Sussex and representatives of the SHP, Hastings Borough Council, Sussex Police, Sussex Police Authority, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, the local Primary Care Trust, Odeon Hastings, and CCN Ltd, the company behind SHP-TV.

Entries must be received by the Safer Hastings Partnership no later than midday on 19th October 2007.

All short-listed students, their parents and staff at short-listed schools will be invited to attend the Awards Ceremony at the Hastings Centre on the evening of 5th December 2007.

All competition details, plus full terms and conditions, can be found on the SHP website: www.saferhastings.co.uk, where staff and entrants can also find storyboard examples, and view existing SHP-TV clips.

Mike Fagan, Community Safety Manager with the SHP, said, “We were delighted to receive more than 250 entries last year, and to see more than 200 pupils, parents and teaching staff at the Oscars-style awards night.

“The feedback from school staff, parents and students was all very positive, so this year we hope even more schools and pupils will take part, especially as the competition enables us to find out what young people think about community safety and what issues matter to them.”

Mediation brings peace

July 2007
HASTINGS & ROTHER Mediation Service was awarded a computer and printer by BT Community Connections to help them with their work earlier this year.

This is not the first time the Service’s valuable work has been recognised - last year, Sussex Police Authority presented staff with a £7,500 grant.

According to Nicola Hawkins, who is the Service manager, there are two sides to every situation and conflicts often arise as a result of misunderstandings. The local Mediation Service has been highly successful so far, helping residents of Hastings and Rother to live more peaceably with their neighbours.

It is a charitable organisation that is dedicated to developing constructive ways of resolving conflicts in local communities.

It was founded in 1995 and, since then, many people in Hastings and Rother have benefited from using the Service to help resolve their disputes and problems.

Nicola reports that most often the complaints are about noise, abusive behaviour and children. Through the Mediation Service, people can discuss the problem and, through listening, supporting and guiding each party towards solving the problem, they can reach a solution that is acceptable to everyone.

The service also offers Time 2 Talk, which helps to heal family arguments that can often lead to family breakdown. The mediators have a friendly, skilled team who can help with issues such as “house rules”, money, drugs, alcohol and relationships. Seven part-time workers and 20 volunteers currently staff the Hastings & Rother Mediation Service, which was the first in the country to gain the Community Legal Service Quality Mark in Community Mediation.

• If you would like to talk to the Mediation Service or would like more information, please call 01424 446808 or email: hrmediation@aol.com. You can also find out more online at: www.hrmediation.org

Crime Prevention Day

THE SAFER Hastings Partnership’s Burglary Focus Group is holding a Crime Prevention Day in Priory Meadow Shopping Centre on Wednesday 4th April.

If you have concerns about crime and are worried about burglary in particular, we can offer advice and help.

If you live in rented accommodation and are concerned about your security when you leave home, we can help with that as well!

Whatever your concerns, come along to our Crime Prevention Day to meet with specialists in community safety who will be available to offer advice and to help you.

We will be at Priory Meadow outside Marks & Spencer’s from 9am to 5.30pm. Come along to chat to your local Crime Prevention Officer.

Find out about Operation Sabre, the new initiative from Sussex Police aimed at reducing the activities of those who try to sell on stolen goods to the secondhand market (the Operation Sabre car, pictured above, will be there too).

Or if it’s your house or flat you’re concerned about, come along to hear all about the Secure Accommodation Scheme, which is a just for anyone who rents a property in Hastings.

Do you have internet access? Come talk to the Neighbourhood Watch by E-mail Co-coordinator to find out about this innovative scheme you can join to receive daily updates about what’s happening in your area.

In Touch home improvement agency will also be on hand to tell you what they can do for you.

Plus we’ll have many examples of security products to show you how you might safeguard you and your home.

What’s more, FREE property marking kits, ‘Take Me To Bed’ keyrings and other items will be available on the day.

As our Crime Prevention Day is during the half-term break, we’ll be running a free raffle for the under 12s, with some great prizes to be won.

While children are keeping their fingers cross for the raffle, grown-ups can be finding out how taking their car key to bed can help reduce crime.

You can find out plenty more about the Safer Hastings Partnership’s Burglary Focus Group, including the impact it is having on crime in your community.

So come down to Priory Meadow on the 4th April to become more aware of what you can do to prevent crime.

£93,000 funding boost to tackle anti-social behaviour

April 2007

Additional resources in the amount of £93,000 to deal with the most difficult and anti-social local families has been awarded by the Home Office’s Respect Taskforce to a partnership project involving the national charity Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI) and the Safer Hastings Partnership. The Home Office this month announced it has reached its target of 50 Family Intervention Projects across the country, and CRI’s project has been noted as one of the leading schemes.

Hastings became a Respect Action Area in January 2007 and the CRI Family Intervention Project (FIP) was established to work with local families persistently perpetrating anti-social behaviour and who are at risk of losing their homes or of other significant enforcement action.

In some communities there are a small number of highly problematic families that account for a disproportionate amount of anti-social behaviour. They are well known to many services and can cost them between £250,000 and £350,000 per family per year.

Louise Casey of the Respect Taskforce said, “I am delighted that today we can announce that there are 53 Family Intervention Projects across the country to work with the most difficult and anti-social families.

“These projects, a flagship part of the Respect Programme, grip families and by using a mix of strong enforcement and intensive help, are proven to turn families around. These are families that in the past we might have given up on – but now we can offer them a second chance to become decent members of their community and most importantly give their children the opportunity to grow up with a chance in life.”

Families accepted onto the FIP are appointed a ‘key worker’, who adopts a ‘whole family’ approach; providing intensive daily support. Sanctions can be used to provide incentives for families to accept help and provide opportunities for them to make permanent, positive changes to their lives. Each family must agree to and sign a contract, identifying the behaviour that needs to be changed and the other agencies that will help to achieve these changes.

CRI’s Hastings FIP has already helped a number of local families, turning around the lives of parents and children and making a massive difference to the communities and neighbourhoods affected by anti-social behaviour.

The success of interventions is dependent upon a multi-agency approach, bringing together all the necessary services in partnership to provide a coordinated response. The key worker coordinates this activity.

The key partner agencies involved in the local project are:

• Safer Hastings Partnership
• Hastings Borough Council’s Housing Department
• 1066 Housing Association
• Youth Offending Team
• ESCC Children’s Trust
• Hastings & St Leonards Primary Care Trust (PCT)
• Job Centre Plus

In addition to the FIP, it was announced in November 2006 that CRI was successful in bidding to the Respect Taskforce for a Senior Parenting Practitioner (or ‘Super Nanny’), who will provide a parenting programme for families referred by the local Multi-Agency Tasking Teams (MATTs) to the FIP.

Click here to find out more about CRI...