Help street pastors dish out more lollipops (From The Oxford Times)
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Help street pastors dish out more lollipops
12:00pm Wednesday 14th November 2012 in News
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John Hooper, left, with husband and wife Goff and Janet Payne. Picture: OX55346 Jon Lewis
STREET pastors in Wallingford are seeking new volunteers so they can offer help to night-time drinkers twice a week – and perhaps even save someone’s life.
The town’s team of street pastors launched a year ago and 20 volunteers have been offering support to people enjoying a night out every Friday.
Now they want to double the number of volunteers in the team so they can patrol the town centre every Saturday night as well.
The scheme is backed by Churches Together Wallingford and the Ascension Trust.
As well as offering drinkers advice, street pastors also hand out flip-flops to women who have lost or damaged their shoes as well as lollipops.
Co-ordinator Ralph Shephard said the scheme had been a great success, with volunteers supporting drinkers between 10pm and 2am every Friday.
Mr Shephard, 57, said: “I think it has been a very successful year and I know Thames Valley Police support what we are doing.”
Senior street pastor Frances Willoughby, from Wallingford, added: “Street pastors are known for giving out lollipops and we have handed out about 3,000 in our first year. A lollipop can be a small token when we meet people and can sometimes be used to calm an aggressive moment.”
The street pastors have also picked up 300 bottles to keep the town tidy and prevent their use as weapons.
Comments(7)
Darkforbid
says...
10:36pm Wed 14 Nov 12
Now all you have to do is play giveaway Kojak,, put on the uniform and you're in!!?
Street Pastor Coordinator
says...
8:15am Thu 15 Nov 12
As for 'Kojak', he didn't have 50 hours of training and CRB checks. Nice quote though, I'd forgotten about Kojak though I'm getting more like him (in some ways) every day!
Darkforbid
says...
12:02pm Thu 15 Nov 12
Oh,, sorry I got it wrong, 50 hours training and a CRB,.. and you can use a ordained minster tag, Wow, anybody else think Christianity is fast becoming the biggest joke on the planet.
onthestreets
says...
1:03pm Thu 15 Nov 12
Darkforbid
says...
1:40pm Thu 15 Nov 12
And Jesus was a Jew,,, killed for preaching against his faith
onthestreets
says...
2:41pm Thu 15 Nov 12
Yes, unpaid. Street Pastors are unpaid. Fact. Fund raising covers the costs of training, uniform and the bottles of water, flip-flops, lollipops, space blankets to keep someone warm while the ambulance is coming - that's it. Street Pastors do not have 'spiritual leadership' over anyone. Maybe you should look at the Ascension Trust website, which would give you a more accurate view?
Wallingford2 says...
3:36pm Wed 14 Nov 12
To be honest, the pubs have done a better job on their own. The grotty ones have closed and the others are keeping the standards high. Take the Green Tree for example, perfect way of turning down a regular trouble spot to a fun, well run and clearly popular business. No more 2am sirens.