A Night on the Streets

Richard Morgan from the Bishop’s Office and Sharon Smith from the Diocesan Office spent a night on the streets of Cardiff with The Street Pastors to find out what the Bishop’s Lent Appeal is all about.

It is just before ten o’clock on a busy Friday night. The streets are full of groups congregating outside the bars, clubs and takeaways that line the streets of Cardiff. Girls in high heels and bare shoulders flirt with young men celebrating their football team’s latest success. Music is blaring from club doorways, momentarily interrupted by the sound of a screaming police siren or the shouts from revellers as they saunter down the street.

In the midst of this hustle and bustle, a group is preparing to hit the streets. But these aren’t people looking for a late night bar, an empty spot on the dance floor and a döner kebab from ‘Chippy Lane’ at the end of the night. They are the Street Pastors.

The Street Pastor scheme was launched in London in 2003 as a response to the urban problems which exist in many of our towns and cities. Since then, over two thousand Christians of all denominations have trained as volunteers and have offered to commit their Friday and Saturday nights to actively engage with young people and late night revellers in towns and cities across the country. In a society where anti-social behaviour is prevalent and young people feel increasingly marginalised, the Street Pastors aim to build relationships with people, showing grace and compassion to those they meet, so that they feel safe on the streets and ultimately bring God’s unconditional love to the community. Although the Christian faith is at the heart of what they do, it is not at the forefront of what they say; their role is not about preaching, but one of caring, listening and helping.

The Street Pastor scheme has been in operation in Cardiff since November 2008. During that time they have built up the support and trust of the emergency services and the local council to create an ‘Urban Trinity’ which has made a positive difference in the city. The Street Pastors, working in small groups of two or three, patrol the streets between 10pm and 4am armed with flip flops and bottles of water.

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

As we make our way down St Mary’s Street, we come across a young homeless man in his mid-twenties, huddled in a doorway and lost in the crowds of people passing by. Tony is a ‘regular’ on the streets of Cardiff and well known by the Street Pastors and over the last few months they have built up a rapport with him. We spend time talking to him and listening with loving intention and he is clearly grateful for the brief companionship and kindness we are able to offer.

The kindness shown by the Street Pastors is an example of how their Christian faith has motivated acts of love and is undoubtedly what drives them to continue this important collaborative outreach. Margaret Smith, President of Newport Churches Together, says that the scheme is “a very positive way for the Church to take the Gospel onto the streets and by acts of kindness showing that we care.”

Listening and offering comfort is often accompanied by practical help. During the night we came across a young woman wandering on her own in the backstreets; she had become separated from her friends and was clearly quite distressed. We offered to walk her back to St Mary’s Street and ensured that she was safely reunited with the rest of her group. We may have saved this young woman from becoming another victim of crime.

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”

As Friday night reluctantly gives way to Saturday morning, inebriated youths spill out from the clubs. Broken glass litters the street and women abandon their high heels. Flip flops are handed out to protect their feet and provide a more comfortable journey home, and bottles of water are offered to sober those who have drunk too much – another practical example of God’s love in action. “What an encouragement to young people on the streets that the person who is alongside them is from the local Church”, Margaret explains, “taking Christ into a situation so that he can touch people’s lives through the Street Pastors’ very presence and without a word being spoken.”

Indeed, the visible presence of the Street Pastors seems to have a calming influence on the streets of Cardiff. In situations where a drunken argument has the potential to lead to violence, the sight of a Street Pastor standing close by is enough to distract them from confrontation. This is evident in the police statistics showing that in towns and cities where the scheme has been introduced, the crime level has fallen considerably. Despite the potential volatile situations we encountered that night, I felt secure in the knowledge that we had constant radio contact with the authorities and that we were being upheld in people’s prayers.

By four o’clock in the morning, as most of the revellers make their long journey home armed with döner kebabs and bags of chips, we return to the Tabernacle Church to share our stories with the other Street Pastors who have been patrolling the streets and to record in the log book the details of who we have met and who we have helped during the night. I thank God that I was able to be out on the streets helping people in need and letting His light shine out.

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”

Richard Morgan