Source / Huddersfield Examiner Article
The Bishop of Huddersfield, the Rt Revd Jonathan Gibbs joined the town’s Street Angels on Saturday night to find out more about their work to keep revellers safer on the streets. Starting from their base at Huddersfield’s Methodist Mission, and well wrapped up against the cold weather, the team of five volunteers toured the streets of the town centre, speaking to door staff at numerous clubs and bars, as well as chatting with late-night clubbers and a number of people sleeping rough in doorways. Bishop Jonathan said: “The Street Angels do a fantastic job helping to look after people who may have enjoyed themselves just a little too much, handing out slippers, water and chocolate bars and assisting those who might not otherwise get home safely. “It was great to see the rapport they have with the door staff at all the clubs and pubs – they are a familiar site to staff and clubbers alike in their bright orange jackets and we received a warm welcome wherever we went. “We were also accompanied by one of the local PCSOs for part of our tour, who spoke very positively of the work of the Street Angels in keeping people safe late at night.” Street Angel volunteers come from a variety of churches in and around Huddersfield and are expected to commit to one night every month. Training is given and anyone interested in joining will need a reference from their local clergy and a DBS check. For more information, see their website: www.streetangelshuddersfield.co.uk Or email [email protected] Source
Beverley Street Angels have won praise for helping to keep town revellers safe at night. The group in hi-vis jackets has assisted hundreds of people on their Saturday night patrols since launching in 2012. As well as giving first aid, they have handed out more than 1,000 pairs of flip-flops and over 500 bottles of water. Their efforts have now been praised by East Riding ward Councillor Denis Healy, who will be joining the volunteers on patrol on Saturday night. Set up by a group of town churches, the Angels have dedicated more than 2,700 hours to helping people stay safe. Carolyn Bradbury, who runs Beverley Street Angels, says: “The idea behind Street Angels was to help those who might be vulnerable after a night out in the town. “Our volunteers go out, normally around 11pm on a Saturday night until around 3am Sunday morning. “They patrol in pairs with a team member remaining at base for assistance and support whilst they are out. “They chat to people out for the evening, and make themselves known to the door staff. “Really it's just down to being friendly and making sure they know we are there to help them in any way or to get home safely, for example visitors to the race course may not be familiar with the town and we are often asked where they may be able to get a taxi back to their accommodation, or providing people with flip-flops avoiding possible feet injury from sharp objects." Cllr Healy says people out on the town after too much to drink can be vulnerable and in need of help. He says: “Local communities are at their best when people look out for each other, where individuals give up their time freely to improve life for everyone and Beverley is blessed with many community minded people who genuinely want to make our town a better place. “It's probably fair to say that most Beverley residents don't experience the town centre in the small hours of a Sunday morning, and although the pubs and bars provide an enormous amount of pleasure for people enjoying their leisure time, the town centre, at night on a weekend, can at times be a challenging environment for people who can become vulnerable, particularly where alcohol is involved. “That's why the Street Angels volunteers with their welcoming presence can make such a difference, simply by being around. “I'm sure that many parents of teenagers and young adults out on a Saturday night will feel some extra re-assurance knowing that the Angels are there to look out for people, and provide the practical help needed, even if it's just a bottle of water, or help to the safety of a waiting taxi." Source
TONIGHT – just like any other Friday or Saturday night – an army of volunteers will take to the streets to help keep people safe in Bradford city centre. I decided to join them for one evening to see the valuable work they do. It's 10pm and my late shift at the paper has finished, so I make my way to City Hall where the Street Angels are having a coffee break. They start at 8pm and patrol until around 2am, covering several miles of the city centre in search of people who may need their help. I am given a high-visibility jacket and for the evening I am one of them. There are ten Angels, 11 if you count me; all volunteers of all ages, from retirees to single mums. There was also a new recruit, Casey Herbert, who was cutting his teeth on his first walkabout. The charity, now approaching its tenth year, was started by city centre churches. It has a Christian ethos, though volunteers come from all walks of life and faiths. Some are not affiliated to any church and volunteer purely to help. Angels can only patrol in groups of three or more, so tonight there were enough volunteers to form three groups. My group leader is duty manager Steve Nuttall, a butcher by trade whose day job is at the Caring for Life charity farm shop, in Cookridge, Leeds. He had already been working since 6am but was happy to pound the city’s streets on a Friday evening. “I do three or four Fridays out of five and really enjoy it. I’ve been a volunteer for around 18 months and have completed 56 patrols so far. I really feel we do a great job and people feel safer knowing we are out and about,” said Steve. “The response we get from people is terrific. People know who we are and come up to us to chat. We get to know them too.” The other members of my group are group secretary Chris Swale and Steph McMahon. Steph told me: “This is actually only my second patrol and I joined because my sister-in-law is involved. “I really love it. It is tiring after a day’s work, but I feel we are doing something really worthwhile. We do look out for people and people know it. We are forever getting hugged.” This is true. I am hugged several times over the next four hours and told by many revellers that we do a great job. Within minutes of setting off on patrol there is a disturbance outside The Turls pub, in City Park, involving a police officer. He has radioed for help and police arrive from all directions. “We don’t intervene in fights but if one breaks out we can radio for the police,” said Steve. “We are also linked to the CCTV headquarters and can ask them to close in on situations. “We will watch from a distance and once we know the police have a situation under control we carry on our patrol. “We keep in touch with each group so we know where we all are. The more groups the better because it means we can cover most of the city centre at the same time, though we can still easily cover six or seven miles in an evening.” From City Park we head up Godwin Street towards North Parade. Steve spots a young woman at a cash machine. “We’ll just watch her to make sure she’s safe,” he said. It does look as though the person at the next cash machine is with her, but if she is on her own we’ll keep an eye on her and even approach her to check she’s okay. A lone female at a cash point could be a target for someone.” The woman is, indeed, with the man at the next cashpoint so we continue our route. There are few homeless people about tonight. But those that are, are spoken to and asked if they have anywhere to go. They say they are fine. One, sitting outside the Odeon later in the evening, accepted a sleeping bag; one of several donated to the Street Angels to be handed out. Our next port of call is Forster Square Railway Station. There are no homeless people under the arches so we walk into the station. It is just after 11pm. “Sometimes there are lone people waiting for late trains who may feel vulnerable,” Steve explains. Our next visit is the new Sunbridgewells complex, which we enter from Ivegate. Steve spots a glass bottle outside the entrance and picks it up to put it in a bin. I discover that is another of their tasks – to remove any bottles or glasses that have been left and could be used as weapons. They also pick up broken glass if they see it on pavements. The women we see walking around in bare feet, killer heels in hand, are no doubt grateful for this gesture. We walk through the Sunbridgewells bars twice that night, observing that all is well. It is very busy. Our second visit brings us across the aftermath of a minor altercation where an inebriated reveller has suffered a head injury. The police appear and the reveller, more than a little awkward, is dealt with. We head to the West End, where there are nightclubs and more bars, but all is quiet. “One of the things we do is wait outside the Alhambra at the end of a show because there is always someone who has forgotten where their hotel is or where they have parked their car,” said Steve. “We also point people in the direction of the taxi rank. If it is a lone person we will walk with them to make sure they make their taxi safely.” Minutes later, back near City Park, a lone young woman does actually ask us where the taxis are and we walk with her to the side of City Hall. At 12.20am we head back to North Parade and at 1.15am we walk again around West End. Another homeless man is spotted and approached. He was just on his way to a shelter for the evening. At around 1.45am Steve says he is satisfied there is a healthy police presence in town and we call it a night. We return to City Hall and he contacts the CCTV operators to log off. There have been one or two incidents where the Angels alerted the police and one ambulance was called for a man suffering chest pains. Scores of partygoers were chatted to, dozens of hugs were received and more than 60 bottles and glasses moved from harm’s way. Recently the Street Angels were joined by a Barnado’s charity worker who taught them how to spot evidence of potential child sex abuse. I feel Bradford city centre is a safer place with the Street Angels watching out for people – but they are always in need of more volunteers and I say I would love to go round with them again. If you can spare an occasional Friday or Saturday, contact admin@bradford streetangels.org.uk 10 P.M.
Having had a cup of something warm and a slice of cake, plus the all important catch up it is time to begin. As always the weekly briefing is first, presented by our coordinator and then after a few updates on go the blue jackets, emblazoned with our name that we trust will keep the cold at bay during the late hours. The kit bags are next and once checked and we are satisfied that we have all we need our team of four are ready to leave, to say farewell to the cosy Baptist Church, until we return for a break. A quick rattle of the key inside the lock and with a timely snap it catches and we are off to embark upon six hours of the unknown, of a shift that will offer the fun and the serious with just a spattering of the silly. Because, as any Street Angel will tell you, no one night on patrol in a busy town is ever quite the same as the next. Our first mission is to walk the lanes and streets and engage with our homeless men and women to whom we offer soup and rolls and much needed conversation. Most we know but to those we don’t we will signpost to the local project who will offer further support. As always they are grateful for what we can do and tonight welcome the warmth of the soup on what is a cold autumn evening. With a ‘thank you’ and a smile we leave them and offer reassurance that we will return, as we do every week. And so we venture onwards followed by the tune of a busker’s harmonica as it dances on the cool air behind us. Into the night and the bright town centre we walk, flanked by castle walls and ancient buildings while under the watchful gaze of our friends in CCTV. What will come during the course of our shift will vary from assisting a woman having a panic attack, to reuniting several people with their cars, from dressing a cut hand to having a request for a selfie from a Hen party. We will come to the aid of the police to help a man who is ill and we will assist many folk to get home safely as well as removing broken glass from the streets. We will walk the parks and the train stations, the river banks and bridges. We will pass the clubs and pubs and the theatre as it empties, greeting all we meet and all the while looking out for those we can help. Then after a break we will enter the busier period of the night, as the clubs begin to close, when many a flip flop is given out to those struggling to walk in heels and when our lollies are greeted with grand applause by those with a sweet tooth. And yes, in case you are wondering, we are still smiling despite the hour. And why? Because being a Street Angel is a role like no other. One that instils a sense of self worth and community spirit and demonstrates what teamwork and passion can achieve. For we offer the shoulders to cry upon and the hands that help the weary to their feet. We are the ones that walk the streets until the birds begin their chorus and night gives way to day, watching and caring for those who need it most. And it is then as the town turns quiet and the streets become bare that our time is done. When the bags and jackets go back on their hangers and the radios switch to ‘off’. When one last coffee is drank and we say our farewells. Until next week. We can’t wait. Source
A CHARITY that provided support to late night revellers for more than five years has announced it will close for good. The Slough Street Angels had their final night on the streets of Slough on December 23 and will close down completely on New Year’s Eve. There are Street Angels groups around the country who venture out on Friday and Saturday nights to offer assistance to clubbers and revellers who might have had too much to drink or lost their friends. The decision to shut the Slough branch was made at the group’s recent annual general meeting with members citing the lack of volunteers, insufficient funds, and the belief they were not needed as much in Slough any more as the reasons for their closure. The Slough group was founded in December 2011 and has been run entirely by volunteers from churches around the town and funded by grants and donations from religious groups, charities, other organisations and individuals. Slough Street Angels chairman, Deacon Andy Packer, said: “Sadly, in spite of numerous appeals, we do not have enough funding nor sufficient volunteers to viably continue. “This is a huge disappointment for everyone involved as so much excellent work has been done. The fact that the streets have become so much quieter in the last twelve months has also influenced our decision to close.” Deacon Packer added: “In some ways Slough Street Angels have been a victim of their own success.” Others also paid tribute to the tireless late night work of the Slough Street Angels volunteers. Slough’s MP Fiona Mactaggart said: “There are few organisations which can muster friendship and human solidarity up on an organised basis, but I think Street Angels did just that and that is hugely to the benefit of people who find themselves in vulnerable situations.” The charity has worked closely with Thames Valley Police to achieve the success that means they are no longer required on the streets of Slough. Inspector Andy Boomer of Thames Valley Police said the team has been an ‘inspiration’.: “I have always found the Street Angels team to be an inspiration in their dedication and the way they go about their work.” Source
The streets of the town were busy on New Year’s Eve but the Windsor Street Angels were on hand to help any revelers in trouble. It was the busiest night of the year for a five-strong team of volunteers who helped 120 people, working into the early hours of the new year. The group has been running for about five years and in December 2015 was nominated for a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The team is headed up by PCSO David Bullock who thanked the team for their hard work. There will be an open evening for anyone interested in getting involved at Windsor Baptist Church on January 23 from 7pm. There will be the chance to meet the team, pick up an application form or sign up to be an observer to see what the role entails. Source
A team of volunteers who help keep people safe on a night out have received an extra boost from police. South Tyneside Street Angels is a small team of volunteers who help people enjoying a night out in South Shields Town Centre on a Saturday night. The team are there to help anyone who is in difficulty, are vulnerable or in need of assistance as well as offering a listening ear. The Street Angels will give out water, adminster first aid, give out information about local emergency services, helplines and signpost to support agencies. And for those whose shoes are proving too painful to wear they will offer flip flops. Volunteers go on patrol every three or four weeks between 10pm Saturday until 3am Sunday. The team work closely with police and after seeing the great work they do PC Gary Collinson from South Shields Neighourhood Policing Team decided to apply to the Police Mutual Fund which has funding available for local groups who assist within the community. PC Gary Collinson said: "South Tyneside Street Angels play an important role in keeping those enjoying a night out in the town centre safe, the work they do is a huge support to police and I'm pleased we've been able to secure this funding for them."
New CitizenAID app and booklet offers advice in the event of a terror attack:
BBC News Report CitizenAID website Happy New Year! Many thanks for all you and your team have contributed to your local community and towards the change in the British culture (as alcohol related violence and A&E admissions reduce). As we enter a new year we wanted to highlight a few one-off initiatives CNI Network is involved in and ask if you could pass these onto your volunteers:
If you follow CNI Network on facebook.com/cninetwork or twitter.com/cninet you will have seen the feature on Manchester Street Angels in The Sun and on BBC1. Please use this as a way of promoting your local project! You will also have seen that Paul has become an Assessor for The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services which is helping raise our profile and shows CNI Network’s commitment to the wider voluntary sector. Thank you to all those who stand with us in prayer, financially and through practical support to help us achieve all we achieve. Many thanks - CNI Network ![]()
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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 |