Neighbourhood Support Palmerston North was established in 1984 as ‘Neighbourhood Watch’, primarily a community centered approach to crime reduction.  Since those early days, it has evolved into Neighbourhood Support to encompass the need of community support in the areas of safety and natural disasters as well.

We are a registered charity (number cc 10054) and rely on the generosity of our funders, sponsors and individuals to allow us to continue to help neighbourhoods stay safe.  We actively encourage you to read about each organisation you see within our site, click on the logos you find and have a look through their sites – this is one of the ways we acknowledge their support.

We work closely with the Police, FENZ, Palmerston North Community Patrol, Civil Defence and many other organisations in the community to reduce crime, improve safety and prepare to deal with emergencies and natural disasters.

Aims

Neighbourhood Support aims to make our homes, streets, neighbourhoods and communities safer and more caring places in which to live.

Neighbourhood Support Groups

There are currently over 8000 residences and businesses  registered to our groups spread Palmerston North City and its rural surrounds.

Neighbourhood Support Groups enable people to share information, ideas and insights.

As a result, these groups:

• Encourage neighbours to talk to each other

• Share information that will help reduce the risk and fear of crime

• Help foster a sense of community spirit, where everyone is respected and valued

• Educate and empower neighbours to take responsibility for their own safety

• Identify the needs of neighbours and ways to assist each other

• Identify the strengths and skills of neighbours to contribute to solving local problems

• Minimise burglaries and car crime in the local area

• Reduce graffiti, vandalism, violence and disorder

• Support victims of crime

• Enhance the safety features and appearance of the neighbourhood

• Decide on ways to handle any civil emergencies that may occur

• Know when and how to contact Police, other emergency services or support agencies

• Liaise and co-operate with other community groups

How we work

We aim to have a Group Contact for every group, who becomes the point of contact between NSPN and the group.  Part of the role is to update the groups details every year or as group members change and encourage new and existing residents to join.  Once the updated information is provided to the manager of NSPN a new updated list is printed off and provided to the group Contact to distribute to all the members on the list.

What you get as a member of Neighbourhood Support

As a new member you will receive, from us, a ‘new member pack.’ This contains useful fact sheets and booklets to help you keep yourself and your possessions safe along with contact details that you may need, and  Neighbourhood Support Stickers to place on your mailbox and window.

All members who have registered their email with us get a weekly newsletter with a summary of reported crime for the previous week and also prevention advice from the Police as well as crime trends and issues to be aware of.   We also send out reminders to help you stay vigilant as well as emails about specific issues that the Police ask us to send out to our members.

All we ask of you in return is that you help keep your neighbourhoods more safe connected and resilient by looking out, helping out and reaching out to your neighbours when the need arises.