William Roache MBE, Coronation Street's Ken Barlow and Patron of Crimestoppers in the North West

Coronation Street star William Roache has been supporting Crimestoppers in the North West for almost ten years. William worries about the number of people who are in difficult situations because members of their family are involved in crime. That's why he's such a keen supporter of Crimestoppers – to make sure that these people know they can call the charity to pass on information about crime completely anonymously.

“I became involved with the Crimestoppers charity almost ten years ago after being invited to a charity dinner. The cast of Coronation Street get invited to a lot of charity dinners, but I was interested to find out more about Crimestoppers, so I decided to go. By the end of the dinner, I'd become the patron of Crimestoppers in the North West of England!

“I was struck by the charity's simplicity and its effectiveness. A lot of charities can be quite indirect, but in this instance, anonymous calls to Crimestoppers lead to criminals being arrested. The results are visible and make a real difference to communities.

“I do see it as the role of people like me, who are in popular TV programmes, to raise the attention of charities and to help society and communities in any way they can. I really felt that I could help to tell more people about Crimestoppers.

“I'm lucky enough not to have been affected by crime personally. But I do worry about people who find themselves in really awful situations in relation to crime. The absolute fact is that if you're married to a murderer or a terrorist, for example, you can call Crimestoppers and know for certain that the information can't be traced back to you. When you're that close to crime, it can feel like an impossible situation. But with Crimestoppers, you can give information with no fear of the consequences.

“Another big problem at the moment is gun and knife crime. All of these people carrying guns and knives are completely unapproachable – even by their family. Again, this is an area where Crimestoppers can be hugely beneficial to a lot of people and their communities.

“A key point that people should remember about Crimestoppers is that it's anonymous, not confidential. We've seen in the news recently about how so-called ‘confidential' files from different industries have been discovered on discarded computers, or have been leaked somehow. The difference about Crimestoppers being anonymous is that the information is never attached to your name in the first place. People really can give information with no fear whatsoever.

"Into the future, I want to continue helping the charity to get the message across that Crimestoppers is a charity and that it's anonymous. A lot of people don't know that it's a charity; I certainly didn't before I first became involved. Everyone will be affected by crime or worry about crime in their lifetime, so we need to tell them that Crimestoppers is here for them.”