THE BROMSGROVE Street Pastors have been busy preparing the festive season and they are ready to ensure town revellers have a good and safe night.
The team currently has 40 pastors in total and, for each night out, there are four who go out and about and four who remain back at base at Bromsgrove Baptist Church.
The pastors have with them, bottles of water, first aid kits, resuscitation masks, foil blankets, rubber gloves, containers for needles and a dustpan and brush in case they have to clear up broken glass or other dangerous debris.
Members of the team are specially trained for their role and pride themselves on being non-judgemental.
They are there to listen, care and help anyone who finds themself in an intoxicated state.
One of the things that was apparent when we at The Standard went out with the pastors two years ago was how highly thought of they were among revellers.
Jo Pavely, the spokesperson for the Bromsgrove Street Pastors, said: “It’s always a busy time of year and there are always a lot of people out and about.
“We’re here to ensure that those going into Bromsgrove town centre have a safe and happy Christmas.
“If you do see the pastors when you are out, please come and say ‘hi’ and have a chat.”
Last year, the street pastors carried out three patrols – on December 19, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
During that time, 85 people were spoken to by the team. Revellers guzzled seven litres of water – 47 cups of 150ml, 14 pairs of flip flops were given out to women who could no longer walk in their chosen footwear, one foil blanket was used to keep a pub-goer warm and 90 lollipops were handed out.
There were also 109 incidents where they picked up glass and cans off the street, they returned ten glasses to pubs, cleared up two sets of broken glass and defused two incidents of anti-social behaviour.
Members of the street pastor team will be out tonight (Friday) and their next patrols will be on Thursday (Christmas Eve), on Sunday (December 27) and New Year’s Eve (December 31).
Call 01527 87790 or ‘Like’ the Bromsgrove Street Pastors Facebook page for more on the scheme.
