Street Pastors
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Corby Street Pastors What are Street Pastors? Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue. It was pioneered in London in January 2003 by Rev Les Isaac, Director of the Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable results, including drops in crime in areas where teams have been working. There are now over 100 teams around the United Kingdom. Each city project is set up by Ascension Trust and run by a local coordinator with support from Ascension Trust and local churches and community groups, in partnership with Police, Council and other statutory agencies.
About Corby Street Pastors: - Corby SP's have been running since July 2010 - Our 23 Pastors are aged between 22 & 70+ - They go out once a month, on Saturday, from 10pm to 3am - Teams of 4-6 listen, care & help - Crime figures have reduced in the patrol areas - A supporting prayer team meet locally from 9.45pm
Two of our Street Pastors at the launch in 2010
How do I become a Street Pastor? To be a Street Pastor, you need to be 18, a church memeber with references from your clergy, complete the training course, and undergo a CRB check. Trainig & kit costs about £200 and volunteers pay as much of that as they can, although in Corby a variety of funding has been put in place and has offset a portion of that.
Recent testimony: One team was out in December in temperatures around -5°C. They had an eventful night, including helping one young lady get a taxi to hospital. The following e-mail came in to us at St.Columba's & was passed on to the co-ordinator:- "Hi on Saturday my daughter had her drink spiked which resulted in her being admitted to hospital. She is fine and at home, thank God. However, I'm writing to say how the Street Pastors helped so much and I'm so grateful for all their help and assistance, what a simple but very effective voluntary service. Please can you pass on my thanks and as a small token of gratitude I would like to make a donation to the organisation. Once again thank you Street Pastors after such a traumatic experience, your actions really affirm my faith in humanity."
One of the teams before a night on patrol
Autumn 2010 Newsletter Street Pastors have now been out in the Old Village area of Corby for nearly 3 months and are already making a significant difference.
The statistcs gathered each evening show that during the first eight Saturdays, 12 vulnerable people were supported, 1 aggressive situation was calmed, first aid was given once, 19 pairs of flip-flops, 6 bottles of water and 42 lollies were given out, 226 cans, bottles and broken glasses were collected, and there were many, many conversations with the public, the police, door staff and taxi-drivers, ranging from "What is a Street Pastor?" to 'deep life issues'. One of the most exciting things, however, is that it is not only the street pastors who think they are making a difference. The local Strategic Partnership Board Meeting for Corby District, was positively reported on Friday 10th September (by Rev. Peter Mills, representing Corby Churches Together) and extracts are as follows:
...Mr Fred Scholey from Corby Borough Council gave an update on all the strands of work currently being undertaken by all agencies to make Corby safer & stronger.... "significant reductions have been noted in violence since the Street Pastors have been working...." He further told the meeting that Street Pastors were very popular, picked up on tension and had a calming influence. As a result, acts of violence had been virtually eliminated on a Saturday night and he asked if Street Pastors could deploy on Friday nights as well!" It is very encouraging to receive this endorsement from our partners and although the street pastors themselves feel they have done very little directly to eliminate violence, clearly the presence of Jesus is making a real difference. All glory and praise to Him!
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