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SNU  - Safe Neighbourhoods Unit

Led by John Farr and David Birley, SNU  - Safe Neighbourhoods Unit - is a registered charity offering consultancy services in the fields of neighbourhood development, regeneration and environmental improvement. John and David both have thirty years experience of working in communities on resident participation, community safety and environment projects. Both are qualified trainers. Click on Our Team, above left, for brief biographies.

Formed in 1981 as part of NACRO, SNU has been an independent charity  for more than twenty years.

Work on Housing Estates

SNU was set up specifically to tackle problems on neglected housing estates caused by

• Design deficiencies and poor repair standards
• Inefficient and badly managed services
• Poverty and lack of opportunity
• High crime and  inadequate community safety
• Lack of environmental quality and ineffective waste management 

SNU's work on estates rests on the following principles:

• Consulting and involving residents including young people
• Gathering evidence about problems and issues
• Designing change programmes
• Negotiating with landlords, councils and other service providers
• Measuring impacts and evaluating outcomes

Work across neighbourhoods and communities

SNU has applied its methodology of evidence gathering, consulting key stakeholders and negotiating change  to develop and evaluate other programmes and initiatives. Besides housing estates, SNU has worked on crime reduction and community safety initiatives,  waste and recycling strategies, environmental improvement plans in parks and open spaces, urban regeneration schemes and town centre strategies.

Our history

Download SNU's review of its work on housing estates 1981 - 2010 (1.86MB - PDF)

Contact SNU 

snu@snu.co.uk

John Farr 078 7051 8719

David Birley 079 6636 9305