This Manchester group patrols schools looking for 'outsiders'

Heywood is deeply divided. The small town sits eight miles north of Manchester in the metropolitan borough of Rochdale, where the scandal of sexual abuse still provokes anger and distrust of authorities. It’s just six miles away from the Crumpsall synagogue that was recently the target of a horrific terror attack . 

For Jamie Thomason, it’s time for communities to police their own streets. Thomason set up the Heywood Community Guards in September. That involves a group of men volunteering to go “on patrol” and standing outside schools in white hi-vis.

The group has been formed through Facebook and WhatsApp groups. The volunteers have no

formal security training. They’ve been standing outside schools when kids arrive in the morning and when they leave in the afternoon. They’ve been p