Community Champions

You may remember that CABOT with Communities Against Knife Crime set up a petition with 10 Downing Street to promote the setting up of Community Champions in the fight against knife crime.
Neighbourhoods are no longer communities, they lack the spirit of bygone years.
Champions are needed to bring neighbourhoods together and to act as a springboard between agencies and the public.For example, too often these days, stories are to be found in local papers about bodies being found weeks, months and in some cases years, before they are discovered. When this happens, local people are quick enough to slate the local authority and social services. Surely, we are all to blame equally?
Years ago, when the milk was left on the step of a neighbour or the newspaper or mail were sticking out of a letterbox the community rallied and notified the correct authorities that there may be a problem.
This was community spirit, not surveillance or interference.
*Find a neighbour, exchange phone numbers, tell them if you are going away!
*Look out for more vulnerable neighbours - if you are concerned about them talk to your local Police Community Support Officer, they can pop round and check if a person is all right.
This is another role Community Champions could take on, they could be a point of liaison between the authorities and the community.