Swindon has been chosen by the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit as the base for the South West Neighbourhood Training and Resource Centre, one of eight centres established nationally.

Initially the centre was set up with the primary aim of supporting neighbourhood warden schemes across the South West by providing training, NVQs, mentoring, exchanges, promoting best practice and providing opportunities for networking across the South West.

While the centre still plays a key role in promoting and supporting warden schemes, out remit has become much wider and we now provide training and support for anyone working in the community, including residents who want to become more involved in their communities.

The ways we do this include:

• Supporting regional networks; providing networking opportunities within regions; and linking with other skills and knowledge networks
• Being a centre of best practice and providing training, support and guidance, including NVQ registration and assessment
• Acting as a resource for community groups across the region
• Feeding back good news stories to the Department for Communities and Local Government and capturing and sharing effective practice
• Acting as a resource for neighbourhood management schemes and helping to address local issues
• Ensuring quality standards are maintained across the region
• Providing mentoring for new warden schemes and schemes requiring assistance
• Promoting equality of opportunity for all in the community

In The Press

The work of the Resource Centre was recently featured in Newstart community regeneration magazine.

A scan of the article (pictured, right) is available as a downloadable PDF file:

SWRC article from Newstart Magazine (922Kb)

Further Information

If you would like to find out more about the Resource Centre please e-mail us at swresourcecentre@swindon.gov.uk.

Resource Centre Brochure

Follow the links below to download the South West (Swindon) Warden Resource Centre brochure:

Warden Resource Centre Brocure
(577Kb Adobe PDF Document)

Printed copies of this brochure can be requested by e-mailing swresourcecentre@swindon.gov.uk or by calling Mathew Randall on 01793 464006

Resource Centre Staff

Mark Walker

Resource Centre Manager

Mark has been a Housing Manager for the past 12 years at Swindon Borough Council. Currently his role is Policy and Regeneration Manager for Landlord Services.

His previous roles have included Area Estates Manager, where he took the lead on Neighbour Nuisance and Anti-Social Behaviour Policies and Procedures (which included obtaining the first ASBO in Wiltshire in 2001 and introducing Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) into Swindon in 2001); managing CCTV contracts for Housing, etc; plus many other day-to-day activities in front line housing management.

Mark and colleagues introduced and managed a pilot street warden team in 2002, covering three wards. The service now stands at 32 full-time equivalents covering ten wards.

Mark has managed the South West Resource Centre since it was set up in 2004.

Tel 01793 464605
E-mail: mwalker@swindon.gov.uk

Sue Stevens

Development Officer

Sue started within the South West Warden Resource Centre in March 2005, after 7½ years as a Training & Development Assistant in Swindon Borough Council’s training centre.

Sue says the move to the Resource Centre is an exciting opportunity not only to develop opportunities for warden schemes around the south west of England, but also to promote wardening to agencies. She sees the role of the Resource Centre to offer best practice advice to warden schemes and excellent training for new and existing warden schemes, as well as to work towards joining up practices which will deliver high quality services to communities and help enhance liveability.

Sue says that the one thing that stands out for her since she joined the South West Warden Resource Centre is the enthusiasm of all people involved in the wardening family, throughout the country.

Tel: 01793 464001
E-mail: sstevens@swindon.gov.uk

Lynn Jarvie

Training Officer

Lynn joined the South West Warden Resource Centre in February 2005 after a variety of training and HR roles within The Automobile Association and British Gas.

Her aim is to provide a high standard of training  which will enable delegates to make best use of their skills and abilities. As well as being a qualified trainer, Lynn is an NVQ assessor and internal verifier and is qualified to deliver City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate in Conflict Management, City & Guilds Level 2 Community Safety Accredited Persons Training  and First Aid at Work training.  She has also developed and delivered offering a variety of programmes to assist local authority and community workers to maximise  their potential and to engage with the communities in which they work.  These programmes include Community Cohesion in the community and within schools, Partnership Working and Community Engagement.

Tel: 01793 464003
E-mail: ljarvie@swindon.gov.uk

Mathew Randall

Resource Centre Administrator

Mathew recently joined the team in Swindon as the Administrative Assistant. His role involves providing a quality administrative service, including maintaining NVQ and City & Guilds records, organising meetings, conferences and public open days. His background is in administration and management.

Tel: 01793 464001
E-mail:mrandall2@swindon.gov.ukLink