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The Crime Survey for England and Wales found that just over 1 in 3 people experienced or witnessed anti-social behaviour in 2025, a significant increase from the previous year. Anti-social behaviour has been found to have a negative effect on residents’ health and quality of life, impacting quality of sleep, levels of anxiety, avoidance of public spaces, going out less often and a reduced sense of community.
Over the last 3 years, we have seen concerns of this nature more than double when listening to residents of Gillingham.
As part of our ongoing place-based engagement, Healthwatch Medway spoke to 41 residents living in Gillingham in March 2026, to understand how their local environment affects their health and wellbeing. The most frequently raised concern, by just over 2 in 3 people was crime and anti-social behaviour, an increase from 3 in 10 people in 2025. Additionally, in 2024, 3 in 10 Gillingham residents raised concerns relating to crime.
“The antisocial behaviour is so bad. I always get funny looks, and I see other people getting them too. There is always bullying just in the street and on transport, just because you are different. I think the high street is just awful, it really makes my anxiety bad.”
Residents told us about issues with drugs and alcohol (54%), bikes and e-scooters (11%) and members of the community arguing/fighting in public spaces (11%).
Concerns around crime and antisocial behaviour are not affecting people equally.
43% of people who mentioned crime and anti-social behaviour told us they feel unsafe in the area. This was reported more frequently by female residents (75%).
“It makes you not want to walk around the high street and makes me feel unsafe. It feels dangerous. I don't want to go out, especially at night-time.”
14% of those raising concerns relating to crime and safety told us they had experienced racism in the community. All of those were people from Black or Mixed ethnic backgrounds.
“I don’t like living here [Gillingham]. It’s full of racists. My mum is mixed race and she gets abused. I’ve seen people ignore her in shops and pretend they can’t understand her when she speaks. She was born in Chatham.”
These insights from residents in Gillingham align with national evidence that local councils need to make streets safer for women and girls, with 9 in 10 women reporting feeling unsafe walking at night due to personal safety fears, anti-social behaviour and inadequate lighting. Additionally, a study by the University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology found that racism and hostility within the community can make people from ethnic minorities feel unsafe and unwelcome, having a negative impact on their overall wellbeing. Healthwatch Medway’s 2025 report on Public Perceptions of Crime, Anti-Social Behaviour and Personal Safety also found that female residents and those from ethnic minorities across Medway were more likely to report feeling unsafe in their area.
Locally, Kent Police are listening to communities in Medway to set priority areas of focus. Currently they are focusing on tackling e-scooters, e-bikes and alcohol use in Gillingham South, and anti-social behaviour and drug dealing in Gillingham North. However, our findings suggest that interventions may need to be more clearly targeted towards those who are most affected, to ensure vulnerable communities are better protected. Failing to target interventions may exacerbate existing health inequalities for these communities.
As part of this year-long project of focusing on the building blocks of life, we are speaking to people all across Kent and Medway. When speaking to people in Swale this year, the most frequently raised issue was also crime and anti-social behaviour. Comparatively, just over 1 in 3 Swale residents mentioned crime and anti-social behaviour, frequently referencing young people, littering and drug use, whereas Gillingham responses more often described feeling unsafe and the unequal impact on certain groups. Both Swale and Gillingham residents spoke of area avoidance. Read the Swale insight article here.
Bias and limitations
Residents we spoke to were those who were available and willing to speak to us at the time and location of each engagement event. Therefore, the sample is not representative of the Gillingham population. These findings should be interpreted as indicative trends rather than conclusive evidence.
