THE ASSOCIATION OF DORSET WATCHES

ADW, the Association of Dorset Watches, provides a pan Dorset umbrella organisation, which is able to offer advice and assistance to many individual groups. ADW is made up of a large number of community Watch schemes. Together with the support of Dorset Police, the Watch schemes form a network.
Should an incident happen, police are able to put out a message via their Dorset Alert system, which goes out to all registered members of the Watch schemes. This system is not only used for gathering information from the public, such as with missing persons and witness appeals, but is also utilised when members of the community report suspicious behaviour in their area, to distribute important information from Dorset Police, etc.
An example of this is where police have a sighting of a suspicious vehicle circling around an area, a message will go out via Dorset Alert to ensure residents in that area are aware of the suspicious activity and help to prevent them falling victim to any potential crime.

Contacts

If you would like more details about your local Neighbourhood Watch, one of our Watch advisors will be able offer some help. Please email ADW
If there isn't an active Watch in your area and you'd like to start one, please email ADW

We are always looking for new volunteers for various activities so if you are able to help in any way please contact us via any of the methods shown above.

Watch Types Included

  • Beach Hut Watch
  • Church Watch
  • Community Speed Watch
  • Country (Rural) Watch
  • Dog Watch
  • Harbour Watch *
  • Hotel Watch *
  • Neighbourhood (Home) Watch
  • Taxi Watch *

Notes:

  1. For Watch types indicated *, only activities that are community based are supported, i.e. business activities are not supported.
  2. For all Watches ADW only supports activities based on land across the two Unitary Authority areas of Dorset.

Associations and Watches recognised by ADW

  • Association of Poole Watch Groups
  • Branksome Park, Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks
  • Broadstone
  • Canford Heath
  • Corfe Mullen
  • Ferndown North
  • Ferndown South and West Parley
  • North Bournemouth
  • Poundbury
  • Sherborne Town Coordinators
  • South Purbeck
  • St Leonards and St Ives
  • West Moors
  • Weymouth and Portland Coordinators
  • Wimborne and Colehill

Benefits

What are the benefits of joining a Neighbourhood Watch?

Neighbourhood Watch aims to:

  • Prevent and reduce crime in our neighbourhoods
  • Provide reassurance to people in our communities, especially the more vulnerable
  • Provide up to date crime prevention advice
  • Encourage community members to be alert and watchful
  • Pass timely information from the police to the community (and vice versa) to help prevent and detect crime

The scheme aims to benefit both individuals and communities alike, by offering:

  • Home insurance discounts for active members
  • Specialist crime reduction advice to improve home security
  • Regular communication and crime alerts from your local police
  • The reduced likelihood of falling victim to crime
  • Vigilant neighbours concerned with community safety
  • Community issues addressed by a collective voice

Insurance

Public Liability insurance is available to members to cover Neighbourhood Watch events and activities. It has a Limit of Indemnity of £10,000,000 per claim plus legal costs, is in place to provide relevant cover for all recognised schemes and Neighbourhood Watch volunteers carrying out their roles across England and Wales.

The insurance is extended to include cover for Products Liability up to £10,000,000 a year, and Employer’s Liability. This cover is paid for by Neighbourhood Watch Network. Please visit OurWatch for more details as well as full terms and conditions.

Promote Your Watch

The Association of Dorset Watches has a number of promotional items available for the leaders of local watches within the region to use at events. These include tear drop flags and pull-up banners. As well as these, we are also offering 'Beware Of Scams' stickers and note pads both of which can be given away, hopefully these will be particularly useful by the phones or computers of the elderly and vulnerable as a constant reminder to be cautious.