THE NEW chair of Darlington’s Neighbourhood Watch scheme has pledged to bring more diversity to the role.

Phillippa Scrafton hopes the organisation will become more representative of the community it serves under her leadership.

Ms Scrafton comes to the role after decades working to improve equality in the community, having acted as the national transgender representative for Unison and on the board of trustees for the Gay Advice Darlington and Durham (GADD) charity.

As well as working closely with the police, she has also worked for Darlington Borough Council for 25 years, becoming their first openly transgender employee.

The 47-year-old is keen to bring her wealth of experience to her new role at Neighbourhood Watch and in the process, ensure the organisation becomes more diverse.

Ms Scrafton hopes to attract new members from across the town and wants to do more to engage with young people and those from LGBT and BME (black, minority or ethnic) backgrounds.

She said: “Equality, respect and dignity are what I have focused on since I came out as trans eight years ago.

“I look at volunteer groups throughout Darlington and so much here is done by them for the community.

“I have absolute faith that this community can make real changes by working together – it doesn’t matter who you are or what background you’re from.

“I want to bring that ethos and agenda to Neighbourhood Watch, I’ve always been a big advocate of the scheme but I want to change perceptions about it.

“It’s not about curtain-twitching or being a grass, it’s just about looking out for each other in the neighbourhood.

“I’d like it to be a more representative group and to get people from all backgrounds to get involved.

“I want to engage with every person in Darlington who is proud of it and wants to help – we need to look out for each other and through Neighbourhood Watch, we can do that.

“The issues we’re all facing – anti-social behaviour, littering, dog fouling – happen no matter where you live or who you are and we can tackle them by working together.”

She added: “We definitely need more young people – our members are getting older and if nobody is prepared to take this on and get involved, Neighbourhood Watch here will eventually dwindle away and that will put more pressure on the community as a whole.”

Neighbourhood Watch Darlington works to address issues around crime, anti-social behaviour and security.

To get involved, visit darlingtonnhw.ourwatch.org.uk.