More Street Pastors for Taunton

Good Samaritans who

regularly serve on the streets of

night-time Taunton are known as Street Pastors. 14

new volunteers have just been commissioned as Street Pastors bringing the

total who patrol in Taunton to 70.

At

a birthday party to celebrate the second anniversary of the launch of the

scheme in the town, the fresh faces who have all completed a five month training

programme were awarded their distinctive blue caps. The latest recruits were

commended by Mrs Ros Ede, regional representative of the parent body The

Ascension Trust, which governs the fast-growing phenomena, that has seen a

significant reduction in night-time economy-related crime in many of Britain’s

towns and cities.  Sergeant

Simon Bawler of Taunton town centre policing team spoke in support of the local

initiative which sees trained teams of volunteers drawn from local churches

offering practical help and a listening ear to anybody who finds themselves in

need of assistance in the County town late on a Friday or Saturday night.  Sergeant Bawler cited a fall of 15 per cent in

anti-social behaviour-related offences in the last three years and recognised

the part that Street Pastors had had to play in achieving that reduction.

Members of local churches give up a Friday or Saturday evening once a

month to

patrol the streets and befriend patrons of pubs and clubs, helping many,

especially young people, who find

themselves in need of

help in the town centre late at night. The trained volunteers whose ages

range

from mid twenties to mid seventies, listen and offer practical

care, helping

arranging to arrange a safe journey home wherever possible. 

Coordinator

of Taunton Street Pastors, Adrian Prior-Sankey, outlined some of the added

benefits for the town and district of having a dedicated team of

community-minded citizens motivated by their Christian faith to invest time and

resources in befriending all ages who welcome a friendly face during or after a

night out in the pubs and clubs. 

“Taunton Street Pastors are grateful to a

range of benefactors who, by their verbal and financial support are helping us

to make real inroads into some of the problems arising from alcohol-related and

anti-social behaviour late at night. Most of the people we meet are very

friendly and appreciative of the concern we try and demonstrate for their

well-being. We can’t solve everybody’s problems but with prayer and a lot of

goodwill the vast majority of the challenges we encounter are solved by the

time the town is emptied of its late night revelers. It is good to have new

additions to our enthusiastic team and we welcome them to the growing number of

volunteers across the country who share a desire to do something

positive.”   

Adrian

expressed the Street Pastors’ gratitude to the many bodies that have engaged in

partnership since the inception of the scheme locally in June 2008.  He made particular mention

of Martyn

Callow, Head Community Engagement Manager of the

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust, and Sheila Palmer of Taunton

Association for the Homeless, whose presence at the celebration was

representative of an increasing number of agencies that had provided training

and encouraged the Street Pastors in their endeavours to be better equipped for

service. 

Certificates were presented by Ros Ede to

a number of Taunton Street Pastors who have completed their 50 hours of formal

training in subjects such as Child Protection, First Aid, understanding youth

culture, mental health issues, drug and alcohol awareness, homelessness and

listening skills. Taunton’s newly appointed Chaplaincy Team Leader, Neil

Randoll and his wife Miriam cut a decorated birthday cake. Neil is a team

leader with Taunton Street Pastors and will soon take up the challenge to

develop a daytime ministry serving the retail, commercial and leisure

businesses of the town.   

 Street Pastors will

be mounting additional patrols over the Bank Holiday period and are in

discussion with the Police to ensure that local celebrations of next month’s

World Cup competition pass off without problems.

 Over 200 towns and cities

across the UK have now introduced Street Pastor projects and 5,000 Christian

volunteers give their time and services free of charge.  Crime levels have reduced, often

dramatically. New schemes are being pioneered as far away as Trinidad and

Australia. 

A

training programme to recruit additional Street Pastors from among the local

church congregations will commence in the autumn and a Friends Group welcomes

interest by those who wish to lend their support to those who offer care at

night on the streets of the County Town. Anyone interested in learning more is

asked to email taunton@streetpastors.org.uk or telephone 07773 038 622.