The first ever ‘Street Pastors’ in Blaenau Gwent has been hailed a success after helping late-night revellers on the streets of Ebbw Vale and Abertillery over the last 5 months.
The street pastors have worked to make Blaenau Gwent a safer place at night by helping people under the influence of alcohol before they can cause trouble or hurt themselves.
16 Ebbw Vale and 10 Abertillery church members in Blaenau Gwent completed a comprehensive training programme this year to fully equip them to respond to the needs of people they speak to on the streets.
Volunteers from both Ebbw Vale and Abertillery launched the initiatives with their own individual commissioning services.
In the month of September alone, Ebbw Vale street pastors had contact with over 70 people as well as offering practical help such as handing out flip flops, offering hot drinks, first aid and safety blankets. The Street Pastors also collected over 300 cans, bottles and glasses.
Local church members who volunteer as Street Pastors have been helping the emergency services in Blaenau Gwent every weekend around the times of 10pm and 1.30am on Friday and Saturday nights. The teams, usually made up of four people each night, can be clearly identified by the high-visibility jackets they wear.
Blaenau Gwent Partnership Sergeant, Andy O’Keefe said: “The Street Pastors provide a reassuring presence on the streets of Ebbw Vale and Abertillery ,they engage with people of all ages providing care and support; listening to concerns and ensuring when needed that the more vulnerable are sent home safe and sound.
“The Street Pastors are a vital and welcomed addition to Partnership working within Blaenau Gwent, with the Christmas season approaching I am sure they will play a major role in ensuring that those visiting Blaenau Gwent have a safe and enjoyable time”.
Ebbw Vale Street Pastors Coordinator, Reverend Wayne Evans explains:
“We have received a very favourable response from the night time revellers in our town since we launched in the middle of June. It has been good to engage with many young men and women who are out for a good time and some have commented that they are surprised that the church is out on the streets late at night and want to know more about what we do and why we do this voluntary work.
“Many of the females have felt a lot safer as we have been around to help them. It is often the case that when revellers are a little worse for wear due to the influence of alcohol that they can feel disorientated and can easily get lost from their friends or loose track of time and sometimes we can help to find their friends or direct them to a taxi and make sure they get home safe. The church is out on the streets as we want to help, care and listen to folk. We are not there to preach but to show love and concern for them and their well-being.”
More information on Street Pastors is available online at www.streetpastors.co.uk
