Remembering a ‘giant’ among volunteers in Essex

Launch of Ambassadors Programme in Essex in 2013 – Colin Dobinson third from left

We’re sorry to report that Essex volunteer Colin Dobinson has died, aged 79.

Among other initiatives, Colin introduced the Crimestoppers’ Community Ambassadors programme, and also instituted handy pocket cards with an introduction to the work of Crimestoppers and our youth service, Fearless.

Colin was a ‘giant’ among Crimestoppers’ volunteers in Essex and helped change the way the charity worked in the county, contributing to significantly boosting our profile.

He joined in 2012 and, from the outset, brought initiatives and innovation. He engaged with local police and Neighbourhood Watch committees, attended most Community Safety Partnership and independent advisory groups meetings in the county, and developed area campaigns with local authority community safety teams.

Since he joined, the volume of crime reports in Essex given to Crimestoppers increased year-on-year. Average monthly reports in 2012/13 were 221 and are now nearly 600, meaning that more information about serious crimes is reaching us, which we can pass on to law enforcement agencies. This significant increase has been mostly influenced by Colin’s initiatives and networking. He produced regular analysis of results to identify crime trends and develop projects and strategies. 

Among projects he initiated were: 

• The Ambassadors Programme. 
• Crimestoppers and Fearless introductory pocket cards. 
• In 2017, he initiated a campaign targeted at vets, dentists, opticians, pharmacists and GPs to help combat domestic abuse by raising awareness of Crimestoppers’ services among frontline health staff in Essex. He undertook extensive research about factors that contribute to domestic abuse and liaised with leading health and veterinary professionals. 
• He developed Alert Notices, which targeted crime categories and were distributed to airfields, marinas, and shops.
• In 2018, he developed a campaign on cuckooing which was used by all community safety partnerships in Essex. 

His last initiative was a research project about rural crime as the basis for a new campaign. 

During 2019, Crimestoppers in Essex was represented at 95 events - 85 of these were attended by Colin.

In 2020 Colin became an associate volunteer, but he continued to be involved in activities until the summer of 2023.

Colin’s outstanding contribution to Crimestoppers’ work was recognised in 2021 when he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at our annual Volunteer Awards ceremony.

Colin has left a real and continuing legacy for Crimestoppers in Essex and nationally.

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Before retirement, he was director of marketing and business development for an international company, and was previously Ford Motor Company’s Director of European Motorsport.

He was diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and died at his home on January 8.

He leaves a wife, son, daughter, six grandchildren and two great children.

Our thoughts are with them all.