Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Transport, has launched the œ50m bidding process for more community wardens.
Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Transport, launched the œ50m bidding process for more community wardens on a visit to Merton in south London where wardens patrol the streets. Similar patrol schemes are in Portsmouth and Longsight, Manchester. Giselle Bawden heads the Longsight Neighbourhood Wardens. The wardens, belonging to Manchester Methodist Housing Association, formerly long-term unemployed now on the New Deal programme, have a distinctive uniform and carry radios. ?If a place doesn?t feel safe, we just go out of it and address it another day. We don?t carry body armour because we want to talk to people.? The wardens are eyes and ears on the streets, arranging for repairs for vulnerable people, checking for dumped rubbish and void properties – if boarded-up houses have had boards ripped off, the wardens alert the appropriate agency to make the repair. There is a weekly meeting with police. The wardens have had training in health and safety, first aid (they carry a first aid pack) and conflict management, rather than security. Manchester City Housing delivered the dealing with conflict training, which included role plays – how to defuse a situation where someone was aggressive; and how to deal with someone throwing out rubbish (but not in a bin). Wardens had a total of three weeks training. Within days of starting patrols, two wardens on patrol together spotted a man leaving a house carrying two TV sets. Suspicious, they followed him to find a haul of stolen goods in an alleyway. The wardens dialled 999 and the police were on the scene in minutes. The suspect was not arrested, but the goods were recovered. Giselle, who has a varied, non-security background, adds: ?What attracted me to the job was that I could foresee a lot of reward, challenge, and trying to make a difference.?
