Clearview National December 2019 - Issue 217 | Page 16
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The security industry’s first cash-
based community award scheme
» BURG-WÄCHTER HAS LAUNCHED A
unique outreach scheme offering cash and
security products to support community
causes. The Burg-Wächter Secure
Communities Scheme issues awards of up to
£1,000 cash to community-run projects and
aims to distribute £12,000 of funds per year.
The awards also include security advice and
products with an average value of £150 at
retail.
Besides festivals, fetes and shows, the
Secure Communities Scheme also applies to
maintenance or refurbishment projects relating
to community property or open spaces. This
could involve allotments, common areas,
village halls, sports fields or activity centres.
Community events and activities are also
eligible such as school breakfast clubs, food
banks or firework displays and fun runs.
Burg-Wächter is known for its safes and
post-boxes alongside an extensive range of
locking products. Mark Pearson explains:
“Burg-Wächter regularly receives requests for
products to support charitable and community
causes, anything from digital door locks or
combination padlocks to wi-fi cameras and
alarms. The Secure Communities Scheme
enables us to formalise and scale up our
charitable and community support, so that it
reaches a wider audience.”
A strong local community helps individuals
to feel secure and safe. Burg-Wächter products
also play an important role in helping
individuals and business to keep safe and
secure, so this community-based security-
scheme is an ideal fit all around. Mark
Pearson continues: “We think engaging with
communities is beneficial for everyone who
supplies or sells security products and services.
It not only provides valuable support to local
projects, but it creates a positive role for
security expertise, which is so often connected
with negative events. The scheme gets security
issues addressed actively and positively. We
believe this will lead to greater dialogue about
security going forward, whether with retailers,
stockists or ourselves. This is beneficial
everyone concerned.”
SECURE COMMUNITY
SCHEME PILOT PROJECT:
THE MALDON FESTIVAL:
The Maldon Festival runs for a fortnight in
mid-summer, playing to audiences drawn from
the town and surrounding region of Essex.
The Festival involves the local community in
staging, performing and attending musical
performances and art exhibitions. It also
attracts new visitors to Maldon and showcases
the town as a growing creative hub. The
Maldon Festival attracted £500 in seed funds
from the Secure Communities Scheme to
support the publicity and staging of the event.
It also received a security kit of products
that enabled organisers to secure venues and
manage cash throughout the event. Event
organiser Colin Baldy said. “The Secure
Communities Scheme funding is flexible
so we could use it exactly where we needed,
which was ideal. We found the application
process was straightforward and the Burg-
Wächter team was really supportive helping us
to identify and solve our security issues, even
down to the simple provision of cash boxes
for managing ticket and bar sales. The award
made a significant difference to us.”
SECURE COMMUNITY SCHEME
PILOT PROJECT: MIRFIELD SHOW:
The Mirfield Show is based on a traditional
agricultural show which includes all-round
entertainment for the whole family. It
is staged by The Mirfield Agricultural
Association and is over 70 years old and is
organised by local volunteers. It has been
reinvigorated in recent years, building up its
audience who appreciate the show’s unique
mix of local rivalry and community spirit
plus its outstanding entertainment with
plenty of opportunities for family fun. Show
organiser Joe Kelly explains. “Mirfield Show
is proud to be one of the lowest priced family
agricultural days out in Yorkshire. We offer
such a large number of events, competitions
and attractions that families often tell us they
are hard pushed to get around them all in the
day.”
The Mirfield Show received a Secure
Communities Scheme award of £1,000 cash
and a Show Security Kit to help keep the
event keep safe and sound. The award was
used to contribute to the set-up costs for the
show and some of the money was put towards
paying for the entertainment that is a key
part of the event. Joe Kelly adds “The Secure
Communities Scheme offers a very practical
and useful award that has helped us protect
and secure the Show, both physically and
financially. We are very grateful to Burg-
Wächter for its support”.
www.burg-wachter.co.uk/community/
16 » DEC 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M