7:00am Saturday 21st November 2009
By Michael Purton
CHURCH members who go into a town centre late at night to help people in need have been praised for their work.
Every Friday night a team of four street pastors, from a pool of 20 volunteers from churches across Gravesend, patrols the town centre from 11pm to 3am to make it safer.
They intervene in disputes to prevent violence, perform first aid when necessary and even give flip-flops to women who are too drunk to walk in their high-heels.
Working closely with council CCTV operators and nightclub bouncers, the pastors find out where trouble is happening or about to happen and get there quickly to help.
This month Kent police donated £300 to the programme and Chief Inspector Peter Ayling said “It’s a well run operation which has become part of our efforts to keep the town centre safe.”
The pastors have been patrolling in Gravesend since September, and the programme is in operation in more than 140 towns and cities across the UK.
Since it was first introduced five years ago, not a single pastor in the whole of the UK has been injured while on duty.
Reverend Michael Fanstone, who is chairman of the management group of the pastor programme in Gravesend, says this is because “people see them as a friendly, non-threatening presence”.
He said: “They help in all sorts of situations. They were first on the scene to give first aid to a guy who had been hit by the wing mirror of a car and then punched by one of the passengers.”
Rev Fanstone, who is senior minister at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Windmill Street, praised the pastors for devoting their time to the programme after a long working week.
He said: “If a street pastor can get to a situation quickly they can diffuse the tension and help to calm everyone down so the police do not need to be involved.
“They are peace makers and they do a brilliant job.”
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