Interested in becoming a Street Pastor in Epsom & Ewell?

Reduce the fear of crime on the streets

Be a visible presence of Christ on the streets

Take the church onto the streets

Help the vulnerable and needy on our streets

 

The next Street Pastors training course starts March 2009 in Brixton.

There are 3 training blocks: Sat March 7th, 14th, 21st & 28th

Sat May 9th, 16th, 23rd, & 30th

Sat July 4th, 11th, 18th, & 25th

 

Cost is £200 including uniform [subsidised, normal cost is £300]

If you are interested in being considered please contact Peter Rice for an application form.

Email: Epsom@streetpastors.org.uk or phone 01372 741 926

 

Christians who share a concern for Epsom & Ewell and are willing to engage people where they are

 

Street Pastors

It is one o’clock on Saturday morning in Epsom town centre and two uniformed figures approach a man still shouting about his recent refusal to a night club, what next… a confrontation?…an escalation?…no instead a friendly chat to help calm emotions and a listening ear to give some welcome attention.  These uniformed figures are Street Pastors.

Street Pastors is an initiative designed to help get the church more visibly present on the streets where it can have an impact for good.  Street Pastors are ordinary Christian people who have been trained to go amongst the night life and be there to care, listen and help.  As Peter Rice the senior Street Pastor observes “Giving someone your undivided attention for even five minutes can be a rare and powerful experience for many people.”  Walking people to a safe place, calling an ambulance, listening and offering ideas about people’s life choices or just being a peaceful presence can all be part of a night’s work for a Street Pastor.

Street Pastors is an initiative of Ascension Trust and it has been going nationally since 2003. Already over 700 have been trained around the UK and in the local region schemes are underway in Kingston, Merton and Sutton.  Evidence is available to show a significant impact on crime rates, for example in Camberwell the Metropolitan Police’s own data showed street crime falling by 95% during the six month trial of Street Pastors in that area.

The Epsom Street Pastor has been set up with the agreement and support of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council, Surrey Police and Surrey County Council. 

David Smith, Chief Executive of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council said ‘We are pleased that Epsom and Ewell Borough Council is involved in piloting the Street Pastor scheme in Surrey.  We want people to feel safe when they go out in the Town Centre at night, and believe that the Street Pastors will have an important part to play in this.’

Epsom & Ewell Neighbourhood Inspector Ailsa Quinlan said: “the Epsom Neighbourhood Policing team are looking forward to working with the Street Pastors over the coming months.  Surrey Police are always looking for ways to work with new partners to improve upon public reassurance and to ensure people using the facilities in Epsom & Ewell during the evening know there are people there to keep them safe.

Street Pastors in Epsom aims to have a patrol out on most on Friday nights.  They are aiming to grow that into weekly presence and to make that viable would love to hear from those interested in volunteering and who have the support of their church leadership.  To be a Street Pastor you need to be over 18 (no upper age limit), a church member and able to commit to a 12 session training course in three groups of four Saturdays over a year. The course includes subjects such as counselling skills, drugs awareness, sociology, knowing your community, role and responsibility, and street safety.


Epsom & Ewell Street Pastors started patrolling in April 2007. Meetings with the police and local churches began in February 2006, and after an approach by the Borough Council concerned about night time safety in the town centre, the project was set up. The team have been encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive way it has been received.

Coordinator: Peter Rice       epsom@streetpastors.org.uk

another view of Street Pastors

Should you happen to find yourself in Epsom town centre on a Friday night, you may see some uniformed people wandering around, who are neither police nor traffic wardens.  These people are Street Pastors, and they are volunteers who want to help make the Borough an even safer and friendlier environment.

Street Pastors are recruited from local churches, and provided that they pass the twelve session training course, they commit to patrolling the night-time streets at least once a month.  The core objective of the patrols is to be a friendly presence for all they meet – to care, listen and help.  Often the time will be taken with simply exchanging a few friendly words with people on the streets, and taking glasses and bottles off the street to eliminate the possibility of them being used to cause harm later in the night.  At other times the help can extend a bit further.  Recently, they were able to come alongside a young woman who was alone in the town centre and distressed at being separated from her friends.  The Street Pastors escorted her out of vulnerability and into a safe place.  Another time a man they encountered requested a home visit as something had recently happened in his life with which he was struggling.  Yet another example was the owner of a kebab shop who was grateful for the patrol going near his shop as it encouraged a group of boys who had been causing some nuisance to move along.

At the beginning of 2008 there were nine volunteers whose commitment enabled a patrol two Fridays a month.  From March 2008 onwards there will be to be about a dozen more signed up for the training, and it is envisaged that once they are ready for patrols, Street Pastors can be out most Fridays in the town centre, or alternatively there may be the possibility of having patrols in other parts of the Borough, such as Stoneleigh, Ewell Village or the Longmead Estate.  These are plans that will need to be agreed with Epsom Police and the Borough Council, as the key partners in this scheme.  These partners provide valued support in terms of briefings, publicity, official IDs and financial support towards the training costs.

If you are actively involved with a local church and would like to find out more about this work then please email: Epsom@streetpastors.org.uk

 

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