The Co-operative Insurance has announced that it has become a primary sponsor of Neighbourhood Watch for 2016.

The sponsorship agreement between the insurer and the UK’s largest voluntary movement will initially last twelve months. It will see the organisations working together to achieve their common goals of bringing neighbourhoods together to create stronger relationships and promote safety among communities, giving individuals greater peace of mind.

The two groups are also calling for new Neighbourhood Watch members from all walks of life and are aiming to set up 30,000 new schemes following a Neighbourhood Watch brand refresh in 2016 which sees updates to its iconic logo. Neighbourhood Watch has more than 173,000 coordinators, covering 3.8 million households across England and Wales while The Co-operative organisation overall has almost five million across the UK.

As part of the sponsorship agreement, The Co-operative Insurance will also distribute new window stickers to members and provide local coordinators and members with important resources to enable them to access useful information more readily and to help them carry out their roles in the community more effectively.

Mark Summerfield, CEO of The Co-operative Insurance, said: "As part of the Co-operative, our purpose is to champion a better way of doing business that helps to strengthen communities. Teaming up with Neighbourhood Watch gives us a great opportunity to work with a voluntary organisation with a vision that fits with our own and has aspirations to ensure people feel safe in the place where they live. The scale of our two groups combined gives us the potential to reach out to a huge part of society to help make this possible".

Lynn Farrar, Vice-Chair of the Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network, said: "We are delighted to work with the Co-operative Insurance to help ensure communities are safe and secure. However, we are not in every community and we need volunteers to come forward to help us. Being a coordinator is a very rewarding role which is flexible and can fit around other commitments including work and family responsibilities. With the new window stickers and resources, it really does help communities come together to look out for one another".

For more information about joining or setting up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme visit the Neighbourhood Watch website.