The Church on the Streets

Pembroke Street Pastors is a wide ecumenical movement made up of local churches working together and overseen by Ascension Trust. One of the team, Nicola Durnford, describes the range of help they can offer.

We are the Church on the streets ready to listen, care, help and support anyone in need without any discrimination.

We work in partnership with the police, local councils and a range of voluntary and statutory organisations to reach those in need. We also work alongside those involved in the night-time economy and other local clubs and businesses.

We patrol mostly on a Saturday night between the hours of 10pm and 1.30am staying out later if needed depending on the events in town.

This year we have helped many people including some of the most vulnerable in our community. We have given out nine pairs of flip flops to people who have abandoned their high heeled shoes and are walking bare foot on the streets often by broken glass. These enable them to get home safely without injury. We have also given out five bottles of water and 292 bags of Haribo's. Street Pastors have also collected 113 glass bottles and glasses off the streets and disposed of them safely, avoiding accidents if they remain and break. This also prevents the glass being used in any fights that may occur and helps reduce the need for the emergency services and benefits the whole community in terms of cost and safety. We have also returned 16 glasses to the appropriate establishments.

What we do on the streets varies from helping people get home safely, finding lost keys, wallets and phones to return to the owners. You might find us singing in the pubs, being dragged onto the dance floor or making people laugh thus changing the atmosphere!

When we are on the streets, people are more relaxed. We receive positive feedback and respect from the public and those working in the local pubs and night club. We also get many hugs. One of our favourite quotes from the streets is, "We love you more than you love us" a debate and lots of laughter follows! When our patrol is finished we ensure the people and our streets are safe.

God is at work as we serve Him. We are His hands and feet, and He calls us to go and share His love. We know that God goes before us and knows our every need. We pray for God's blessing on our town and the safety of all who pass through it.