The specially-trained security staff have been brought in by Community Housing Group (CHG) to provide overnight warden care at a number of units housing vulnerable residents and those with special needs.
Security solutions company Sectorguard are providing the wardens, who have been fully trained to deal with likely problems that tenants may encounter.
Licensed by the SIA, the wardens have enhanced CRB-clearance and have been receiving additional training relevant to specific client groups. This has helped to improve their drugs awareness, customer care skills and their ability to work with young people.
“Using SectorGuard’s wardens to provide night-time cover has resulted in considerable cost savings for the group and our local authority partners,” says Lindsay Ryder of CHG . “This is allowing us to target our care resources more effectively during the day.”
Adam Crawford of SectorGuard believes his team are right for the job. “Our wardens are selected for their people skills and their ability to relate to residents in a supportive, professional manner”, he explains.
The service includes both visiting wardens, who make scheduled visits to a number of homes at set intervals, and wardens who remain at individual sites throughout the night.
SectorGuard supply a number of products and services including retail tagging solutions, CCTV and intruder alarms. They currently work at around a dozen CHG sites and there are plans to roll the service out to an additional 20 schemes throughout London in the next year.