Wallingford Street Pastors had their first night out on Friday 28th October 2011 after a commissioning service at Ridgeway Community Church. 19 volunteers from 6 churches in the area were commissioned and 15 of them set out for the first time with support from the assembled churches, police, town and district councils and our local M.P.
People have generally been pleased to see us, to stop for a chat and accept flip-flops and lollipops. For the first hour or two we do what Street Pastors do - we walk slowly around the town, picking up bottles and broken glass and just 'be there' for people. It gets a bit more lively after midnight when the late pubs close. We've helped people who've been enjoying themselves too much and even had to call an ambulance for someone who needed medical attention. It's only been a few weeks so far so we all have a lot to learn.
We're currently out and about every Friday night from 22:00 to 02:00 but plan to recruit and train more volunteers in the new year so that we can cover Saturday nights and other special events.
Wallingford Street Pastors is a registered charity No. 1144477
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