Pubwatch Outstanding Contribution Awards
In recent years National Pubwatch has sought to acknowledge the valuable contributions that many individuals have made to the success of watch schemes around the country without which many schemes would wither and fade making them less effective. The result has been the creation of the Outstanding Contribution Award presented annually at each National Conference. The award was first presented at the Conference in 2010 at Whittlebury Hall in Northamptonshire.
Roll of honour
Janet Dooner is and independent licensee at The Railway Tavern, Stratford London. She has been the Chair of Newham Pubwatch for over 20 years and it currently has 40 members including pubs, clubs and the local theatre.
Initially she was a member of a smaller local Pubwatch but she instigated moves for it to become a borough wide scheme. She has over the last 20 years built up good relations with the police and local authority although occasionally their operational role and perceived lack of support has led to lively debate. She invites different guest speakers to the schemes regular meetings and is constantly encouraging local pubs, clubs and other licensed premises to participate.
Her premises are adjacent to the Olympic Park in Stratford and when London was awarded the games, she immediately recognised both the opportunities and the potential problems that were likely to arise for her membership. She has been working tirelessly with partner agencies to address these issues, including the Olympic Delivery Authority which is responsible for developing and building the new venues and infrastructure for the games. The new large Westfield Shopping Centre led to similar liaison. Awareness of the terrorist threat has featured highly in discussions.
More recently and following some disturbances in and around premises on ‘match days’, she formed a Football Pubwatch sub-group comprising of 10 member premises which are located close to the West Ham United Football ground. During the inner city riots in the summer of 2010, prompt communication between members enabled them to remain alert and responsive to the developing situation.
Paul Wotton of National Pubwatch says “Janet is tireless in her approach to her business and her commitment to the Pubwatch scheme. Her activities have ensured that the Pubwatch thrives and her approach to partnership work has been highlighted most recently by the setting up of the Football sub-group and also embracing the unique demands that are continuing to arise from the development and use of the Olympic site.”
Miles Standish Murphy has been a licensee at the Wellington Inn in Eastwood Nottinghamshire for the last 12 years. He is the Chair of the Eastwood and Kimberley Pubwatch scheme. The scheme was formed over 10 years ago when he assisted both areas to come together under one Pubwatch and it now has over 40 members. Member premises range from busy town centre establishments to those situated in charming rural locations.
He has regular contact with the local police, council and other interested parties regarding crime prevention and the night time economy and he has been proactive in encouraging all managers and tenants to attend Pubwatch meetings. He promotes the schemes activities through regular press releases and was instrumental in setting up the Pubwatch website.
He has been involved in a number of initiatives which have had an impact on alcohol related violence in the area which has included the launch of a radio link scheme. More recently he assisted Nottinghamshire Police to implement a Pubwatch Information and Photograph Sharing protocol and now every licensed premise in the area has access to photographs of banned people.
He has a strong commitment to representing the interests of the pub trade but recognises the importance of partnership working. For example he attends Pubwatch meetings with colleagues across the border in Derbyshire to share information. He has attended many workshops and seminars beneficial to improving his role within the Pubwatch scheme. The most recent being a three day Home Office Alcohol Enforcement training event for operational police officers where he was able to offer a perspective from the licensing trade and Pubwatch.
About four years ago he suffered heart problems but continued to conduct Pubwatch duties even when in his hospital bed! Nottinghamshire Police have recognised his commitment to Pubwatch and service to the community with the award of a Police Commendation.
Trevor Pepper of National Pubwatch says “Miles is held in high regard by the local Community Safety Partnership for his leadership of the Pubwatch and keeping the scheme focused on its core aim which is to make the licensed premises of Eastwood and Kimberley safe for all to enjoy. He is a credit to his profession and worthy of his nomination and award.”
Award presented at the Chester Pubwatch AGM on 19/9/11
Joe was originally an engineer by trade and has worked all over the world. He has been a licensee for 17 years having taken over the Ship Victory pub in Chester in 1994. The Ship Victory is a traditional community pub in the heart of the city and it is a measure of Joe’s involvement in the community is that he has raised almost £100,000 for the Countess hospital in memory of his daughter Angela who died from cancer in 2002.
He has been actively involved in the Chester Pubwatch Scheme for many years and has held the position of Secretary since 2001. Chester Pubwatch is recognised by National Pubwatch as a strong independent scheme which is run by the licensee members. It promotes good practice and supports its members through a close working relationship with the local police and its training programme aimed at new licensees and their staff.
Joe’s hard work and good humoured approach to the role of Secretary has been crucial to maintaining the consistent approach needed to keep Chester Pubwatch relevant to the pub trade and an effective partner to the police and local council. Inspector Ian Thorp of Cheshire Police says, ‘Cheshire Police really values the relationship that it has with Pubwatch, which is extremely strong in Chester City Centre. Chester continues to record positive trends in relation to the levels of violent crime and anti social behaviour at night time in the City. There can be no doubt that the efforts of Joe Gildea together with other key individuals involved in Pubwatch have played a significant part in this success.
Whilst he is standing down as Secretary at the Chester AGM we are pleased that he has agreed to continue in the role of the Cheshire Regional representative to National Pubwatch where his experience as a both a licensee and Pubwatch member will be of great value to local licensees who need advice and guidance.
Julia Glancy is the Chair of the East Liverpool Pubwatch. Julia is relatively new to
the licensed trade having taken her first pub the Red House in Old Swan Liverpool in 2006. Julia became an active Pubwatch member when her scheme was set up in 2007 and has been the Chair for the last 18 months.
Julia has been responsible for rejuvenating her scheme; encouraging new members and gaining the support of the police and Trading Standards. She saw the importance in getting the local businesses to work together to promote the area and reduce crime and now many of the local shops which sell alcohol, including Tesco’s and Aldi have joined the scheme.
As with all our award winners Julia has readily worked with other key partners such as the local business and residents associations to influence and improve her area and she also supports the local community by organising or helping others to run events and festivals. Julia has highlighted the need for a local independent Pubwatch scheme saying that ‘the ability to manage our own problems and ban trouble makers gives us the strength we need to make Old Swan a safer place for the local residents’.
NPW Committee member Frank Marnell says that Julia should be commended for her leadership, strength of character and determination to make the Pubwatch a success at a time of limited resources. She demonstrates all that is best in a local Pubwatch – a willingness to take responsibility and focus on the real issues that affect the pub trade and the wider community.
Geoff Keeble has for many years worked in a variety of roles within the licensed
and retail trade. Seven years ago he set up the Silver Fox Licensing Consultancy and in addition he is currently the facilities manager of a local late night bar. Geoff has been involved with the development of the Pubwatch network in Reading for over 5 years. He is currently the Chair of Tilehurst Pubwatch a position he has held for 3 years. He was also the Chair of West Reading Pubwatch for 15 months and has also chaired the South and East Reading Pubwatch for a number of months. He is also a committee member of the Town Centre Pubwatch and has represented Pubwatch on the Town Centre Delivery Group.
Geoff has been involved in many of the Reading Pubwatch initiatives and has provided the technical and administrative support for their annual NO ID-NO SALES and Project Argus conferences. He helped to co-ordinate the KNIVES COST LIVES campaign to raise money for training materials to educate youngsters to the dangers of carrying weapons. He is the main coordinator for the impressive annual presentation awards night for the Reading Best Bar None scheme. In 2009 Geoff was awarded a commendation from the Reading Safer Partnership Group in recognition of the contribution he has made to make Reading a safer place.
NPW Committee member Bill Donne says that Geoff should be commended for the immense amount of work that he undertakes on a voluntary basis to support Pubwatch in Reading.
Neil Bartholomey is the Chair of the Northampton Pubwatch Scheme. Neil has 
been in the licensed trade for his entire professional career. He was a regional manager for the Spirit Group before retiring from that post in 2006 when he brought his own pub in Northampton – The Abingdon. Neil became Chairman of the local Pubwatch in 2007 and won the support of the membership with a presentation promising to take the watch to a different level using his knowledge and skills, drive and determination. He stated ‘Our objective is to protect you and our guests, the public from further crime and disorder problems arising from unacceptable behaviour. We achieve this as a collective of like minded licensee’s upholding th e licensing objectives’.
He has proved to be an effective leader and has championed many local initiatives such as the use of Acceptable Behaviour Agreements to reduce crime and change offending behaviour. He has represented the Pubwatch on a number of local partnership bodies and has been instrumental in promoting wider social responsibility schemes. For example he is the deputy chair of the BID board and he sits on the Town Centre Partnership Board and the Community Safety Partnership Violent Crime Reduction Task Group. Neil recognised the potential for Pubwatch and Best Bar None to improve standards within licensed premises. He assisted the police and partners in preparing a BBN scheme for Northampton and actively promoted it, resulting in 24 members taking part in the first year.
NPW committee member Mark Worthington says that Neil should be commended for the dedication and time he devotes to the watch and to the professionalism he portrays when representing them in the media and at different forums.
The first recipient was Mr David Lalor of the Station Inn Derby. David has worked
in the pub trade for over 25 years. He has been actively involved in the Derby City Pubwatch scheme for 23 years and has been their Chairman for the last 15 years. He is a well respected member of the licensed trade and is recognised by the local police and community safety partnership as someone who can get things done; always with humour and a professional and considered approach.
Derby Pubwatch has featured regularly as one of the top performing schemes in other licensing awards. They have a proactive attitude to promoting safe and responsible drinking and supporting community safety initiatives to reduce crime and disorder. David’s involvement is seen as a key to promoting and maintaining that important partnership approach.
Steve Howe the Director of Membership for BII states that David ‘has shown outstanding commitment to raising standards and improving relations with other stakeholders to the benefit of the trade, the local economy and the general public’. Sergeant Neville Stocks of Derby Police states that 'In the ever changing and challenging world of licensing, Dave has remained the one constant in Derby City centre, setting an excellent example for other responsible licensees to follow.
At the Conference in 2011 in Liverpool there were three recipients of the award presented by Mr Bernard Lawson the Deputy Chief Constable of Merseyside.
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