Blue team came together to patrol for the first time on the evening of the 27th of August. The team members are Jean, Andy, Aaron and Ben. We have a wide age range in our group, from Jean who is in her 70’s to Andy who is in his 20’s. We were supported on the patrol by Bob and Margaret (Street Pastor Co-ordinators) and had Daisy and Hazel as our prayer team back at base. However, we also had international prayer support through Jean’s worldwide network of friends and colleagues in her missionary outreach work. Notwithstanding all this support, it was with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation when we finally assembled; the last of the Rugby teams; for our first patrol.
Bob gave us a careful brief, reminding us of the protocols we had to observe and of the materials available in our rucksack. We then spent a short time reminding ourselves of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 7); to keep humble, to avoid judgement, not to push our “spirituality” onto those not ready for it and to give good gifts to those that ask. Then we prayed together and set out.
We began our first patrol by chatting with a few lads in the smoking zone outside the Laurence Sheriff. One of them told us he was a black belt in Jujitsu, but we warned him that if there was any trouble we’d set Jean on him – no idle threat as she proved later in the evening! We then went slowly round the night clubs, chatting to the security staff at the various nightclubs: Chris, Blair and Matthew at Walkabout, Sasha at The Bank, Claire at the The Vault. When we got to the Rupert Brooke we picked up the fact that trouble was brewing between a group in the outdoor section of the pub and a group in the nearby carpark outside the LA nightclub.
One large young man was bellowing his challenge across the carpark like Goliath across the valley of Elah – “I’ll take you on AND all your mates....”. His group of (smaller) friends were scurrying back and forth to the group in the Rupert Brooke like seconds trying to arrange a duel. It was these lads that we interrupted and chatted to, as we tried to find out the cause of the trouble. We were careful not to get sucked into the main protagonists but we did help form a group of “neutrals” that diluted the feeling of “battle lines” that were there when we arrived. At one point we were approached by the “seconds” from one of the groups who said “You’re Street Pastors – you break this up or some-one’s going to get hurt!”. Of course, “breaking up” fights is something we can’t get involved in, but by this time things were calming down and the whole thing diffused – no doubt we have our prayer back-up to thank for this, because we were as surprised as much as relieved by the sudden drop in tension.
After this, we finished our first patrol with a sweep back through the graveyard, checking for rough sleepers and on to the Asda car park after touching base with the security guards at Walkabout, Laurence Sheriff and MacDonalds. At Asda we came across a group of young girls all of whom had clearly enjoyed a drink that evening, one of whom was obviously furious with the others and looked like she was storming off to go home alone. We kept an eye on the situation and wandered over to her at the pedestrian crossing. Her skirt was by now being cleaned by a friend and so we offered additional wet wipes. She was clearly still furious, but was pleased by the offer and asked Jean whether the stain on her skirt was visible. When Jean was able to reassure her that there was no stain, her attitude utterly transformed. She was delighted that we had helped and was so grateful to Jean for her kindness. She kept repeating how she “loved Street Pastors” and insisted we should be photographed together with her friends (see photo).
By now we were ready for a break and we went back to base to join our prayer team. After very welcome tea/coffee and biscuits we set out on our second patrol. This sweep took in the same venues but now with changing atmospheres – in some cases more open, as some people had mellowed with the advancing evening, whilst in others more edgy as some turned to violence.
We chatted with a couple of groups of girls on Chapel Street where Aaron’s Oregon accent proved to be a real asset to the team as an ice-breaker.
We then moved on to the Vault where we had a very good time chatting and giving away lollipops, not only to the co-owners Mike and Claire but also to the clientele, many of whom were there for a “rockers” evening. Jean threatened to “take down” one of the lads if he misbehaved but we managed to hold her back (only joking!) and we all joined together for a photo (see Blue Team’s folder on our photo album page).
Some of our conversations were at spiritual level with people very pleased to see that we were willing to help, impressed that we were volunteering and particularly impressed that we were there till four in the morning. Just these simple facts had an impact; some thought we were mad, but a few opened up about their own faith with one taking a contact card with a view to going to church.
We finished the evening by returning to the High Street as the Laurence Sheriff and Walkabout emptied for the night. Here the atmosphere was distinctly more edgy. We went to the clock tower area where people congregate, waiting for taxis. Here the atmosphere was not great: there was a fight between a couple of girls; “Goliath” and his entourage made another appearance - still looking for trouble, and we were warned that there had been a fight at the Vault, after we had left, that it could start again at the Laurence Sheriff. As we headed back up the High Street to get there we came across a shattered bottle with shards spread across the middle of the walkway. We cleaned this up with our dustpan and brush and gave out flip-flops to a girl who was walking in bare feet. The police had dealt with the trouble at the night clubs so we headed back down the street to the clock tower area and the taxis.
Here we came across a lad called David, who had been caught up in the fighting at the Vault and whose ear had been bitten and was bleeding. This was treated very effectively by Bob, who donned his gloves and cleaned the wounds with wet-wipes and anti-septic and applied a plaster to them. When we first met him, David said he was walking back to Overslade, but seemed to be heading in the wrong direction. By the time Bob and Margaret had cleaned him up he was in pretty good shape – pain has a remarkably sobering effect – and despite our suggestion of taking the taxi he was confident about walking back home himself.
By now things had pretty much calmed down, four o’ clock was approaching, so we headed back to base for the de-brief. Overall, everyone was pleased with how the evening had gone. Notwithstanding all the activity, it had been a quiet night by Rugby standards. However, the variety of situations we faced has given us confidence that with the right attitude and support we can deal with the busier nights to come. The popularity of the Street Pastor concept was a welcome surprise – so was the real credibility we got for being volunteers who would stay for the whole night. Our particular thanks go to our prayer team - Hazel and Daisy, who closed the evening by reading to us from Psalm 124 (“If the Lord had not been on our side....”). By now it was 4:30am and we all headed home, tired but with a sense of achievement and of the blessing of God.
Ben Salter – Team Leader