Guildford Borough has a total of seven Community Safety Wardens out and about in the local community. The wardens are part of the Safer Guildford Partnership, which works to address key issues of concern and promote positive local projects and initiatives to create greater community links and cohesion. Here, we follow a day in the life of Lesley Telford-Gillies and Jo Packman, who cover the Ash Parish.

Offering advice
“Addressing the fear of crime and helping residents to feel safe in their own home is an important part of our work. We give advice on issues such as bogus callers and home security to residents and clients at local day centres,” explains Jo.

Making new residents feel welcome
“Making new residents to the area feel welcome is all part of the work we do. It was recently brought to our attention that a new tenant had very little furniture for their new home. By making a few enquiries, we were able to locate some furniture for them and helped out with the delivery,” says Jo.

Close links
The Community Safety Wardens have close links with local shops and businesses, which helps to promote community development. Here, Lesley and Jo catch up with Phyllis Tuckwell shop manager and Ash parish councillor Pat Scott, who is always looking for volunteers to assist in the shop.

CCTV for a safer community
Jo explains: “We are occasionally called in to view local CCTV footage to help identify or clarify areas of concern. The CCTV screens are based at the Ash Centre, which is also home to Ash Parish Council and these are an important tool in tackling crime and disorder.”

Taking note
“Our work includes regular patrols of our wards,” comments Lesley. “We are committed to caring for the appearance of our area, and we report issues such as damaged fences, graffiti, litter and abandoned cars. If these ‘signal crimes’ are cleared promptly, it helps to make residents feel safer in their community.”

Meeting our younger residents
Lesley says: “Today we visited pupils aged 3 to 5 years at Ash Grange Primary School. We had an informal chat with the children to let them know who we are and what we do. By introducing ourselves, we let the children know that we are ‘safe’ people to talk to out and about in their community.”