Esso Bermuda has donated $3,000 to support a Neighbourhood Watch programme in the East End as part of a sponsorship initiative by the Ministry of Public Safety.

The donation will allow “Neighbourhood Watch 2.0” to be implemented in the Wellington Back Road and Hidden Valley area of St George’s, offering watch groups real-time voice call and text message communication services.

The service was formally rolled out in five neighbourhoods earlier this year, with Government announcing it was looking for private sponsors to join the Ministry of National Security, the Bermuda Security Group and the BAS Group of Companies in funding the programme in other communities.

National Security Minister Michael Dunkley said: “Each member of the community can play a role by getting involved in their neighbourhood.

“Cooperation, participation and partnerships are paramount for the betterment of our community.

“For us, not only do we see Neighbourhood Watch 2.0 as a way to keep our communities safe, but we also see it as a way to bring communities together.

“The mechanisms which are used to send out alerts if something’s wrong are the same communication tools residents can use to share information about any kind of neighbourhood event, so we see this as an important instrument to connect our families, our neighbours and our communities.”

Lead Country Manager for Esso Bermuda, Mark Fields, said: “When we heard about the programme we knew we had to get involved. We are based in St George’s and we realised that we owe it to the East End to do our part to take care of them.”

St George’s MPs Kenneth Bascome and Nandi Davis both thanked the company for the donation on behalf of their constituents, saying they will continue to do their part to ensure safer communities in the East End.