March 2023 Bulletin

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It’s Neighbourhood Watch Month

March is the Month of Home Security and Neighbourhood Watch Australasia (NHWA), in partnership with Crimsafe, has launched its campaign for 2023 which is, There’s Safety in Numbers. This initiative encourages all home owners to utilise the NHWA online Secure Score quiz, to assess how safe their home is, and suggests ways that security can be improved.

The campaign also encourages individuals to join a NHW group to help make their community, and therefore their homes, safer. If you open this link you can take the quiz in a matter of minutes and be better informed about the security of your home: https://www.nhwa.com.au/resources/secure-score/. If you pass this information on to your neighbours and friends, you will have done something to help increase their safety and security as well.

Grant Opportunities

Relationships Australia champion Neighbour Day which falls on the last Sunday in March. This year their campaign is promoting the importance of social connections and the difference neighbourly actions can make to someone’s life. Their official theme for 2023 is Neighbours Every Day – to encourage us all to make meaningful connections beyond the day itself.

Neighbourhood Watch is very much about promoting connections and good community relationships, so this campaign is one that we want to be behind – 100 per cent! With the support of Healthy Tasmania, community groups are strongly encouraged to apply for grants, up to $2,000, that can be used to host neighbourly activities in your community. The purpose is to reduce loneliness, create belonging and feel connected. If you only do one thing this year, apply for one of these grants and make a difference in your neighbourhood: Neighbours Every Day and Healthy Tasmania Community Grants – Relationship Australia Tasmania (relationships.org.au).
See Key Dates for 2023 at the end of this Bulletin have reasons for a community event.

The ATO advise that if you are approached by an impersonation account, do not engage but take a screenshot and email the information to ReportEmailFraud@ato.gov.au. Then block the account through the social media platform’s reporting function. Visit http://www.ato.gov.au/scamalerts to find out more. 

Calendar Drawing Competition

Each year the Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) Calendar is based on a theme that is relevant to the purpose and objects of our organisation. For the 2024 Calendar, we want each month to feature a drawing based on the theme of Safe Neighbourhoods. We are asking primary school students to enter their drawing in a competition with the 12 winners having their work featured in one of the months of the year.

The competition opens in March, and we ask all our members to promote the initiative amongst their families and friends. Entry forms and additional information can be downloaded from this link.

All winners and their families will be invited to attend the NHW AGM and Awards Ceremony at the Country Club in Launceston on Saturday, 28 October 23. Please share this information as far and wide as you can and help make this our best Calendar and Awards Ceremony yet.

And another great initiative

Here’s a great idea that other groups might like to copy to promote the Neighbourhood Watch brand and in doing so, improve the wellbeing, engagement and sense of safety for people in your neighbourhood. Tina Brown from Rokeby NHW has devised a practical method for increasing the presence of our signage on homes in the Clarence Plains NHW footprint. Quite simply, the plan is to provide a Swann Home Security System to win as a prize for people in the neighbourhood, to be drawn on Neighbour Day, 26 March 23.

How does it work? People living in Clarence Plains can get a Neighbourhood Watch sticker from nominated venues during March, and then send a photo of the label on their property via Facebook Messenger to be in the draw. First prize from Bunnings is valued at $400 with two $100 vouchers as second and third prizes. To raise the money for the prizes Tina applied for a NHW Grant, which Rokeby contributed to on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Check out the Rokeby NHW Facebook Page to get all the details. If you are from Howrah Gardens, Glebe Hill, Rokeby, Clarendon Vale or Oakdowns, get a sticker and be in the draw. If you are from anywhere else, copy what Tina has done, apply for a NHW grant and create your own prize draw.

CWACs Galore

With the help of Knight Frank and the enthusiastic support of Tasmania Police, our Cuppa with a Cop (CWAC) events are gaining momentum and really delivering on our objective of promoting good community relations – right across the state. The CWACs help put the person face on our police officers and provide an opportunity for anyone to have a conversation about anything they like. Local issues get canvassed and this helps the police and the public get a better understanding about things that matter and how we can all help.

Banjos at Shoreline Plaza in Howrah was the most recent venue and the presence of Commissioner Donna Adams reinforced the message about the importance Tasmania Police place on face to face community engagement. If you are anywhere near N’Icecreams in the Burnie Plaza from 11am to 12 noon on Wednesday, 8 March 23, please drop in and have a free Cuppa with members of Tasmania Police and our Bush Watch volunteers from Western District. Commander Debbie Williams, the most senior officer on the coast, will be there, along with a number of other police members from that region. Everyone is welcome so please come along and help entrench these events as informal but invaluable community forums.

New Sorell Police Station

The new Sorell Police Station will officially open on Wednesday, 8 March 23. It is with some pride that NHW was invited to position their banner inside the front door as a very overt demonstration of our relationship with Tasmania Police and the Sorell community. As you can see, the new complex also houses the Tasmania Fire Service and the State Emergency Service. If you need to visit, there is parking out the front!

Arrest follows thefts from building site

Detectives from Bellerive CIB and Operation Saturate officers recently arrested a 33 year old man from Clarendon Vale in the south of the state for thefts from building sites. Clarendon Vale is in the heart of one of the state’s new and rapidly expanding housing estates.

The man was charged with 16 counts of burglary, 14 counts of stealing, five counts of destroy property, two of possessing stolen property, one of receiving, one of trespass, along with numerous other charges. Tasmania Police report they are seeing a trend of construction sites being targeted by thieves, and they particularly ask tradies to ensure their tools and materials are secured when they aren’t on site.

Many of us live near construction sites and we are encouraged to report suspicious activity to police on 131 444. Of course, if you have other relevant information about suspects or offenders it can be reported anonymously to Crime Stoppers by phone on 1800 333 000 or by email at https://www.crimestopperstas.com.au and make a tip. from

Key Dates for 2023

1-31 March Neighbourhood Watch Month.
26 March Neighbour Day
19 April CWAC at Sorell Plaza
8 May NHW Tasmania Board Meeting.
24 May CWAC at Claremont Plaza.
7 June Thank a First Responder Day
30 June Drawing Competition Closes
14 September RUOK Day
4 October International Coffee with a Cop Day.
16 – 22 October Get Online Week
28 October AGM and Awards Ceremony
6-12 November Neighbourhood Watch/Bunnings Crime Prevention Week.

And in Conclusion.

Join NHWT online – it’s free!

“It is more important to look forward to the future than dwell in the past”. Dalai Lama

Yours in Neighbourhood Watch
Peter Edwards, President
Good Neighbours Create Safer Communities

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