Safe and Sound - Wimbledon Town Centre Warden Scheme

Town Centre Wardens are not a substitute police force - they cannot enforce the law. Wardens are local people acting as the eyes and ears of the community ensuring that, whether at work or play, residents are "Safe and Sound". They work closely with local businesses, the Police and CCTV operators for Wimbledon.

Neil Robinson is the Town Centre Warden for Wimbledon.
I’ve always worked in customer care so the warden job naturally appealed to me. I enjoy working with the public and dealing with their problems. I worked as a security guard before getting this job in June 2003.

One of the main attractions of becoming a warden was the very decent pay. And the hours are really good too: I work nine to five, Monday to Friday, so I have plenty of time to see my children now.

I am a highly visible presence in Wimbledon town centre, working to prevent anti-social behaviour and reduce crime. The warden scheme is non-confrontational and our duties are to simply observe and report. Wardens are received warmly by the public and I think people are reassured by my presence.

Every morning I do a patrol of the town centre looking for anything that has happened overnight. This includes things like illegal fly posting and damage to the pavement. I get a lot of satisfaction when I report things to the council and they are remedied shortly afterwards. Everybody gets on with each other – we share information all the time and there is a lot of active goodwill.

I use my radio to liase with the police, CCTV control room, other wardens and shops. This can work brilliantly, and if one of us sees a known shoplifter enter the town we can quickly alert everyone else. The shoplifter will then realise that they are being watched and leave the area empty-handed. It’s nice working in partnership in ways like that, and I get to meet a lot of different people. The training is excellent, and I have been on warden exchange programmes to learn how things are done elsewhere in the country.

All the wardens get together and have a team meeting every Wednesday. It’s brilliant being part of such a respected warden scheme and nice to know we are appreciated.

I feel that I’m working for the benefit of the public, which I’m sure is more rewarding than most jobs in the private sector.