Street Pastors celebrates 20th anniversary

On 18 April, Street Pastors, one of Britain’s most wellknown community safety initiatives, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special march through Lambeth and a civic service at St Matthew, Brixton.

Street Pastors, launched by the Ascension Trust in 2003, has been helping churches work together ecumenically to provide pastoral support and community welfare. The initiative has helped provide safety for vulnerable women and men, administered first aid to those in need and prevented many incidents from requiring emergency responses. Volunteers also work in the community to reduce levels of anti-social behaviour, remove weapons from the streets and provide a pastoral presence to the communities in which they serve.

Since its inception, Street Pastors has trained over 20,000 volunteers to serve their local communities.

There are currently 240 Street Pastor teams across villages, towns and cities all over the UK, and 10 internationally in the Republic of Ireland, USA, Antigua, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria and Gibraltar.

Mr Bejoy Pal, CEO of the Ascension Trust, said: “It’s such an encouragement to see how Street Pastors has grown over the past 20 years; and has encouraged churches to work together to support their local communities. Since joining the organisation in 2015, I’ve seen relationship – that our teams represent at all levels – is the key to the success of this work. From working with the local authorities, emergency services, community stake holders and members of the public; it’s always been about collaboration and working together for peace and safety.”

You can find out more about Street Pastors at: streetpastors.org