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A NEWLY-FORMED group of guardian angels has received a cash windfall to assist with its work of helping those out in Barrow town centre at night. A Street Angels group is being established in Barrow. The volunteers are safe people who offer street patrols in the night-time economy, looking out for those who are or could become vulnerable. The teams offer very practical support such as first aid assistance, directions, counselling, flip-flops for girls with sore feet and reuniting friends, which contributes to a reduction in violence and anti-social behaviour. The new venture for Furness has received a £1,000 grant from the Lake District Farmers Armstrong Family Charitable Fund, via the North-West Evening Mail. The money was raised at an annual celebrity chef event held in Dalton, hosted and sponsored by Clarence House Country Hotel and Restaurant. A Street Angels information evening was held in May, with police, churches and community organisations attending, resulting in many potential volunteers. A local steering group is now formed, with Paul Blakey, the founder of Street Angels in Halifax in 2005 and now chief executive officer of CNI Network, assisting with the process. The group is looking to get up and running on the streets this summer. Mr Blakey said the £1,000 will be used as part of the set-up costs. The group will be able to by items which will be used on the streets to benefit those the St Angels help - such as bottles of water, first aid kits, flip-flops, and lollipops. He said some of the funding will also be used for a website, information leaflets and a banner to be used as part of promotion the project. The website will also become a point of reference to other services that can offer long-term help and assistance around the issues of those the Street Angels help, as well as a way of recruiting new volunteers. The project has already received an offer of support towards the costs of the uniforms and with training. Mr Blakey said: “We are very grateful for the donation. This will help start up the project in Barrow. We have had lots of potential volunteers come forward, which is absolutely amazing. People want to see a difference to the streets at night time.” Anyone interested in becoming a Street Angel volunteer can contact Jonny Gios of HOPE Community in Cumbria on [email protected] , or Sophie Carnaby the Barrow Police chaplain on [email protected]. Source
A Hull charity are bringing a new dry bar to Hull city centre to help people stay sober on their nights out. Hull Street Angels are launching a dry bar which will be portable, and are hoping to make it a mainstay at City of Culture events through the rest of the year. The Street Angels help drinkers around Hull city centre by walking around Whitefriargate, Trinity Square and Humber Street. Now, the group, founded in 2012, will also be providing the service from a fixed location. It will allow drinkers or anybody who is intoxicated to become more sober with a coffee and a safe place to relax. Nick Middleton, a Hull Street Angels trustee, said the group wanted a portable home to help people on nights out or at events in the city. "We've got a great team of volunteers, many of which are NHS workers, work in mental health and carers, and they go out on Friday and Saturday nights to offer reassurance," he said. "Whether it's rehydration or just talk to someone and have a coffee we try to help people along the streets. "But we thought it was important now to get a permanent place where you can always approach us. We looked at a building, but it would be quite expensive, so will have something portable. "It's a dry bar that can be moved and be at all sorts of events and be situated in the city centre on weekend nights." Thanks to funding from City Health Care Partnership, the charity received £1000 to cover start up costs. Hull Street Angels Trinity also received support from Hull College Graphic Design Students and Umber Creative to develop the identity and functionality of the dry bar. Mr Middleton says he hopes it will become part of people's evenings to use the dry bar if someone has had too much to drink. He said: "It's not a first aid tent, it's somewhere where you can have a juice or a coffee and have a chat. We think it should be part of the culture as part of your night out. "If your friend has had too many then you can bring here, you can have something to drink and relax. "Our volunteers are very pro-active and help people to look after themselves. People can come to us, and we are very approachable. We aren't preaching about anything, just helping people. "We would be based wherever is likely to be busy. For normal evenings we would probably be based in Trinity Square, in the centre near to the night life, but for certain events might be in Victoria Square or down Humber Street." F&T Vending has also donated 1000 paper cups, and HEY Smile Foundation has offered free use of their gazebos and outdoor furniture for the dry bar. This morning the UK woke up to the devastating news that a concert at Manchester Arena had become a target for a suicide bomber. A concert filled with thousands of young people and families. People gathered outside the Arena waiting to pick up loved ones.
As an organisation we work in and around streets and clubs in town and city centres and at music festivals and sporting events. We are there to help, to chat, to care, to sort out problems when things go wrong. Our teams help people to have a safe and fun leisure time. Yet last night one person (that we know of so far) was intent on bringing chaos and disruption, fear and injury, death and destruction to a place many will have visited. First of all remember and pray for those who are affected. Those who are injured. The families and friends of those who lost their life. Those who attended the gig at the Arena. The emergency services who responded. The staff at the Arena, the singer and all those involved in the show. Secondly we need to begin (or continue) to tell the better story. Not to focus on the perpetrator but on the hundreds who last night, and each and every day, create community and help make Manchester (and the UK) a great place. Those who opened up spare rooms, those who drove people home for free, those who offered first aid, those who stepped up for the sake of others, the emergency services who ran into a situation of carnage to help save those affected. In Manchester CNI Network has helped to set up Manchester Street Angels and has connections with the Village Angels and Street Pastors. These teams are part of a massive movement of people intent on creating an amazing city. Not far away are Oldham and Bolton Street Angels, several Redeeming Our Communities projects, some great church communities together with hundreds of other groups intent on creating an amazing region. God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of peace, love, hope, joy, purpose, security, life.... This is the heart of all we do. We do what we do to help make that a reality for here and now in community after community, person after person. Yes it is right to pause, to pray, to mourn, to wonder, to question but let us commit to doing even more that shows evil for what it really is. Source
A BASE is needed for volunteer “street angels” in Henley. The town council is to launch a scheme where volunteers help protect people on nights out who are vulnerable or at risk due to excessive drinking. Teams will go out in the town centre from 9pm to 3am to tackle minor incidents, enabling police officers to deal with more serious ones. They will operate on the busiest nights of the year, such as the Friday and Saturday during Henley Royal Regatta and the Henley Festival. Councillor David Eggleton, who is running the scheme with Deputy Mayor Lorraine Hillier, said the street angels would need somewhere to take breaks but couldn’t use the police station for security reasons. Councillor David Nimmo Smith suggested asking the 60-Plus Club for permission to use its building in Greys Road car park. Cllr Eggleton said he would ask Henley police inspector Mark Harling about shadowing other street angels to help with understanding the role. He said: “We are going to trial a few Friday and Saturday nights. We will probably go out all night on one of those nights then scale it back, depending on when we are needed.” Twelve people are set to be trained initially. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old, fairly fit and good at engaging with people. A first aid certificate would be useful. Source
A team of charity volunteers are inviting Belper residents to join them in a choir for one night only to raise money for their vital community service. Hope for Belper, the charity behind Belper’s food bank and Street Angels, are hosting the pop-up choir on Saturday, June 10. The event is being held at Alton Manor Community Centre on Gregory’s Way, starting at 7.30pm. Organiser Mark Berthelemy said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to have fun and raise money for a good cause. “It’s inspired by a project in North Carolina where the community comes together every fortnight to learn a song and record a YouTube video.” Mark, who is involved in the charity through Belper Community Church, says the pop-up could become a regular event in future but for now is just a one-off. He will be leading singers through warm-up exercises and musical games, then teaching them to sing Happy by Pharrell Williams. Anyone who wants to take part is being asked to wear their happiest clothes, to add a splash of colour to the resulting video. Mark said: “The choir is for anyone, regardless of ability, as long as you enjoy singing. “Children will be welcome, as long as they’re with an adult and can read the words.” Participants in the event will need to pay £4 each on the door, and all monies raised will go directly to the charity. Hope for Belper grew out of the nationwide Hope 08 initiative launched in 2008. Its initial aim was to see one million acts of kindness taking place across the UK. Since then, the charity has seen Christians and their neighbours work to bring hope to their community. Its current projects include The Basic Idea, which has provided emergency food supplies for more than 700 families; and Street Angels, who offer support, help and a listening ear on Belper’s streets on Friday nights. It also runs the CAP Debt Centre which providing free debt relief services across Belper and surrounding areas. For more details, call Mark on 07922 146761. Intrepid Duo Supporting Street Angels
An intrepid duo are taking part in a 234 mile cycle challenge to raise funds and awareness of CNI (Christian Nightlife Initiatives) Network and its local projects in the North East of England. Starting at South Tyneside at 9.30am on Friday 9th June, Steve Brock and Andy Fox will visit fifteen Street Angel projects before finishing at 4.30pm in Northallerton on Sunday 11th June. The ride will take in several iconic locations across the region including the Angel of the North, Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge, Whitby Abbey and York Minster alongside various challenging hills. At each of the stops it is planned to meet up with local volunteers and celebrate the work of work and impact of Street Angels on weekend evenings. Accompanying the duo in a support vehicle will be founder of Street Angels and CNI Network Paul Blakey MBE. Steve Brock, one of the cyclists and a trustee of CNI Network, comments, "This cycle ride is a great way to meet fifteen of our local projects and the amazing teams of volunteers who give so much to our region. We will also be fundraising for the ongoing national work of CNI Network and encouraging the local projects to use this event as a way of raising local funds and profile. Although the route will be a challenge at times, Andy and myself are looking forward to it!" The cycle ride is also paving the way for a North East regional conference to be held at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium on Thursday 29th June between 12noon and 9pm with training sessions, opportunity to meet volunteers from across the area and a celebration dinner. For more information and to sponsor Steve and Andy visit www.cninetwork.org/cycle -- ends -- Timetable of the Route: Day 1 - Friday 9th June 2017: 9.30am - 10am - South Tyneside 10.50am - 11.05am - Angel of the North, Durham Road, Gateshead, NE9 6AA 11.55am - 12.15pm - Durham 1.40pm - 2.25pm - Hartlepool Art Gallery, Christchurch, Church Square, Hartlepool, TS24 7EQ 3.25pm - 3.40pm - Stockton Infinity Bridge, TS18 2NL 4.00pm - 4.15pm - Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge / Riverside Stadium, TS3 6RS 5.00pm - 5.15pm - Redcar Beacon (on the seafront), 1 Newcomen Terrace, TS10 1AT 6.00pm - 6.15pm - Guisborough Market Place, Westgate, TS14 6AN The pair will then cycle up the hill to Birk Brow Car Park! Day 2 - Saturday 10th June 2017: 9.30am - leave Birk Brow Car Park 11am - 11.15am - Whitby, at the Whalebone Arch, North Terrace, YO21 3HA 12.50pm - 1.35pm - Scarborough, at The Summit, 4 St Nicholas' Street, YO11 2HF 2.55pm - 3.10pm - Bridlington on the Promenade by The Spa, South Marine Drive, YO15 3JH 5.15pm - 5.30pm - Malton, in front of St Michael's Church, Market Square, YO17 7LP Day 3 - Sunday 11th June 2017: 9.30am - leave Malton Market Square, YO17 7LP 11am - 11.15am - York Minster, outside by Dean's Park entrance on Precentor's Court 1pm - 1.45pm - Harrogate, the gardens opposite Betty's Tea Rooms, Montpellior Parade, HG1 2QU 2.40pm - 2.55pm - Ripon, The Obelisk in Market Square, Ripon 4.15pm - 4.30pm - Northallerton - in front of the Town Hall, High Street, DL7 8QR A fascinating article in The Independent around the horrific trend of glassing within the night-time economy. It concludes:
Away from criminal and civil law, laying aside punishment and its supposed “deterrent” effect, are there any measures licensees can introduce to reduce glassing – or quarrels that might result in glassing? An orderly house – with fully-functioning CCTV – is an obvious good beginning. The manager, and/or the designated premise supervisor ( under the Licensing Act of 2003) needs to be eternally vigilant; prepared to turn away drunkards; wise in accepting or rejecting certain categories of customer; diligent in training bar staff in good customer relations; confident using Pubwatch, DrinkAware, Street Angels, community police, whenever appropriate. CNI Network has long campaigned for replacing glass with polycarbonate as one solution and partner with Pop-campaign who spoke at our conference event a few years ago. Our team also remove glass and bottles from the streets where we patrol removing temptation to use them as a weapon. A team of “Angels” will be on hand at Newquay's Boardmasters Festival in August.
The Festival Angels volunteers, along the lines of the Street Angels and Street Pastors models, will be out and about across the festival site offering help and assistance to the 35,000 festival goers. The teams will offer support such as helping carry bags and putting up tents as people arrive, and offering directions, water and Suntan Lotion as the festival gets underway. Festival Angel volunteers will also be on hand to support and work alongside other welfare teams. Festival Angels was launched at Leeds Festival in 2011 and since then has extended to 175 volunteers in 2016 running a cafe, lost property and detached teams. The concept of Festival Angels has become an integral part of Leeds Festival with other major music festivals across the UK now looking at replicating the model. Paul Blakey MBE, the founder of Street Angels and Christian Nightlife Initiatives Network, comments, "This is the first time for Festival Angels at Boardmasters. Based on that successful track record at Leeds, local organisers thought Festival Angels would bring a uniquely positive contribution to this event, which completely dominates the Newquay area for a few days every August. Our aim is to support the local effort this year and build a team that will be led and resourced locally in future years." Derek Baker, the Faith Co-ordinator for Devon and Cornwall Police, and Regional Co-ordinator for ‘Redeeming Our Communities’, says "Festival Angels is a great opportunity for people with Street Pastor, Street Angel or similar experience to take their skills and concern for the safety and wellbeing of others into the Music Festival environment." Jez Bayes, Safer Cornwall Alcohol Strategy Co-ordinator, comments "This community spirited initiative will help to continue the development of The Boardmasters Festival as a safe and vibrant event, making sure that people are able to look back on their time here for the right reasons." To find out more or to sign up as a Festival Angel volunteer visit www.boardmastersfestivalangels.org.uk Source (visit the Movement Day UK page to comment and for more details on this event in October)
Binge drink culture, violence, sexual assaults and under-age drinking made up the story of many of the UK's town and city centres on weekend evenings. Halifax in Yorkshire was no different and over the years had gained the reputation as the Wild West of West Yorkshire. Late evening strolls around the town for Paul and Jean Blakey revealed the reality - police struggling to cope with fights, people lying in the gutter covered in sick, trails of blood - our town had a no-go reputation and we believed, as Christians, it deserved better than this! Working with Churches Together and the YMCA we got the ok to open a cafe as a safe place drop-in on Friday and Saturday nights between 9pm - 3am. A week later Paul approached the town centre police sergeant who got very excited at the idea. He told us that nationally it was recognised by the police that when the church gets involved amazing results happen - he didn't know how or why but the police were desperate for that to happen in Halifax! Two weeks later we launched and with fifty people turning up our small cafe was too small to cope with that number and those wanting to come in to receive help! So we went to the streets and Street Angels was born! Safe people who would patrol the town centre and run a safe place cafe drop-in. It worked! In our first 12 months violent crime in Halifax reduced by 42%. Very quickly we became an inspiration for other towns - often through the Police network - and so we began to replicate the Street Angels model across the UK. In 2008 we launched the CNI (Christian Nightlife Initiatives) Network as we realised that God was up to something! He was calling his church to the streets within the night-time economy. CNI Network would act as an umbrella to resource, support and celebrate Christian led night-time projects. Since then we have helped over 130 communities to start work within this night-time community. Club Angels working inside club venues with a vision to 'chat, help, listen and care'. Festival Angels working at several major UK music festivals and sporting events, including Leeds Festival where the team run a Prayer Cafe, the Lost Property tent and detached work. Lap dancing bar chaplaincy, Community Angels, Youth Angels and work around train stations are some of the other projects that CNI Network supports. The heart of all we do is summed up in Isaiah 58:12 Your people will rebuild the cities that were destroyed long ago. And you will build again on the old foundations. You will be called the one who repairs broken walls. You will be called the one who makes city streets like new again. As our teams go out on weekend nights, or to festival events, the practical help that we offer - flip-flops to young ladies who have taken off high heels, bottles of water, first aid help and lollipops which help prevent violence (seriously!!!) - really does show that the ordinary and everyday achieves the profound and world-changing! Reduction in violent crime and anti-social behaviour, the night-time economy of the community moving from binge to better and the church at the heart of partnership working with the Police, Local Authority, pub and club management, BID (Business Improvement District), Purple Flag, etc. When the church gets involved amazing results happen! The church is represented within every community. We have thousands of potential volunteers who are passionate about people and making a positive difference for others. We have a heart and the projects that seek to see change in every area of life that dehumanises people. We have good news that says people are of worth and valued. Through the often very simple acts that our teams of Angels carry out we see that the ethos 'love the person in front of you' can and does have city (and world) changing implications. Creating safer places, I think, really is that simple - love the person in front of you! Go for it!!! Paul Blakey MBE is founder of www.cninetwork.org to find out more about our work click on the link. Paul will be speaking at the Safer Places Track Source
Huddersfield Street Angels celebrate 10 years patrolling the town's nightlife The Street Angels movement began in the ‘Wild West of Yorkshire’ and is now a national, soon-to-be-international, phenomenon. Hilarie Stelfox meets the Huddersfield Street Angels as they celebrate their 10th anniversary. It takes a special kind of volunteer commitment to spend Saturday nights patrolling the streets of Huddersfield dressed in a high-vis jacket and keeping a watchful eye over those out enjoying themselves. But from 10pm until 2am every week that’s exactly what the Huddersfield Street Angels do. Trained in first aid and drug awareness; equipped with space blankets, bottles of water and Kit-Kats, the unpaid angels are a comforting and helpful presence in the town centre. They’re not there to break up fights, deal with violent situations or arrest wrong-doers, they’re there to scrape up revellers who’ve had far too much to drink; defuse potentially difficult situations and summon an ambulance if needed. It’s not uncommon for them to call a taxi to ensure that the severely-inebriated get home safely. They supply slippers to women tottering about in painful high heels and give out ‘spikeys’ (bottle tops to prevent drink spiking) to drinkers. Over the past decade their presence has proved to be a factor in reducing crime in the town centre. Dianne Hughes from Emley, a long-serving angel and trained nurse, explains: “We are going out to see that people are safe. We walk around the pubs and clubs just to see if everything is going OK. We have CCTV links and if we spot something we have buzzers to get the attention of the police. We are an extra pair of eyes for the police.” The Street Angels movement was launched in Halifax in 2005 by Paul Blakey MBE, who is also a founder of Christian Nightlife Initiatives. It was, he says, an idea that grew out of his desire to do something about the “Wild West of Yorkshire reputation” that his home town had acquired. He added: “Violence, sexual assaults and binge drinking were all common on the streets of Halifax and Sowerby Bridge on Friday and Saturday nights. There are now 130 projects around the country inside night clubs, on the streets and in festivals. One of the hallmarks of the projects is that violent crime and anti-social behaviour is reduced, often by a half, and in some areas by as much as 60 or 70%.” He recently travelled to North Carolina, USA, where church communities are interested in starting their own street angel groups. Huddersfield Street Angels came into being in 2007. The Rev Orlando Brown, pastor of the New Testament Church of God and a founder member explained: “It was The Examiner that got the ball rolling. There was a feature about knife and gun crime asking ‘what are the churches doing about it?’ What were the churches doing to keep the streets safe? And that’s how we got involved. At first we were the Street Pastors but then we heard about the street angels in Halifax and thought we’d join them rather than be independent. We went to the police and asked them what we could do; and got a Home Office grant and help from West Yorkshire Police and Kirklees. In the first year crime in the town centre at weekends was down by 25%.” While the street angels belong to a Huddersfield Churches Together partnership and most members are church goers, not all volunteers have a strongly-Christian background. And although theirs is a Christian presence on the streets – with each evening patrol beginning with prayers – they don’t preach or attempt to convert those they encounter. The Huddersfield group has members aged from 18 to nearly 80 and would like more volunteers to come forward. The group began with 40 volunteers but has dwindled down to less than 20 active angels. In the decade since the angels began patrolling Huddersfield they’ve seen changes for the better. As Dianne says: “We don’t see a lot of trouble and most people who get injured have fallen over when drunk or from having their drinks spiked. What we do see is a lot of kindness – bunches of girls out on the town are quite kind to the homeless people they see, and they help and look after each other.” And their own angel kindnesses are appreciated. “We get calls from people the next day to thank us for helping to get them home safely, “ she added. The youngest street angel, Rebecca Swallow, 18, became involved when doing community service for part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and has continued going out with the group at weekends. She believes one of the reasons why town centres have become less ‘wild’ is that younger people are consuming more alcohol at home and not venturing out to bars as much as they once did. This view is supported by Paul Blakey, who says: “It’s cheaper to buy alcohol from the corner shop or supermarket and more people are drinking at home. But I also think that people are thinking about the cost of alcohol and saving up for holidays and things like that. There’s been a cultural shift about alcohol and people are aware of the health and fitness issues.” Today’s street angels, he adds, are focussed on the more vulnerable members of society – including elderly drinkers and the homeless. While street angels often witness unruly, drunken behaviour they also see much that is good. As Dianne explains: “We go to Leeds Fest every year and run a lost property tent. We get thousands of items - expensive phones and wallets with money handed in. The people who get them back are astounded, but there is a lot of honesty.” * Huddersfield Street Angels are celebrating their 10th anniversary with a Thanksgiving Service at the New Testament Church of God in Great Northern Street on Saturday, May 13, from 6pm. The service will be followed by supper and all street angels, past and present, are invited. Anyone who would like to know more about the organisation and how to join should call 07811 182347. Bedford Street Angels were featured on BBC Look East - click here or listen below for the BBC Three Counties radio feature:
Police and partners are appealing for volunteers to help launch a new ‘Street Angels’ initiative in Barrow.
The project would see volunteers patrol a community hub on busy nights, most often at weekends, as well as provide a safe drop-in for people who may become vulnerable. An information evening will take place at Barrow Police Station next Thursday (May 4th) at 7pm, where the founder of Street Angels, Paul Blakey, will join police and Church leaders to discuss the proposals. There will be a number of presentations, including a talk from police on the challenges within the night-time economy in Barrow. Superintendent Rob O’Connor said: “We want the people of Barrow to enjoy the town and have a good night out, but our priority is that they are kept safe. “I am pleased that the police are working with Street Angels and the Church representatives in an attempt to set up this new initiative, which will offer safe people and a safe place for those who need it. “It would be really good to see members of the community attend this information evening to find out how they can help us make it happen.” Anyone who would like to attend the evening can register their interest via the following link https://barrowstreetangels.eventbrite.co.uk |
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ROC Angels - an initiative of ROC (Redeeming Our Communities)
Charity - 1139817 / Registered Company - 7327258 Postal Address: ROC Angels, c/o The King's Centre, Park Rd, Halifax, HX1 2TS E-Mail: [email protected] (founder / CEO) / Phone: 07725501465 |