Street Pastors

Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue.

It was pioneered in London in January 2003 by Rev Les Isaac, Director of the Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable results, including drops in crime in areas where teams have been working. There are now over 100 teams around the United Kingdom.

Each city project is set up by Ascension Trust and run by a local coordinator with support from Ascension Trust and local churches and community groups, in partnership with Police, Council and other statutory agencies.

Ealing Street Pastors was officially launched on Saturday 19th July 2008 at a local Church in the London Borough of Ealing. Four local churches then got together in the interest of taking the scheme forward. They have been successful in forging links with the Local Police and the Local Authority who see Street Pastors as another useful approach to keeping the streets of Ealing safe.

On Friday 9th October 2009 they were commissioned into the Acton area of the London Borough of Ealing and a team of Street Pastors patrolled the Acton High Street area for the first time. They were welcomed by all the users of the streets at the time as 'a good thing'. The Street Pastors introduced themselves to the clubs/pubs and were asked by users of the streets who they were and what they were doing; giving the perfect opportunity to talk about the work and get feedback on what they though of it. It was all positive.

So here at Bless, we are excited that we can work together, partnering in this Urban Trinity (Local Authority, Met Police & Street Pastors) to help keep our neighbourhood safe whilst serving the purpose of God in our generation.

Big thanks to Street Pastors for such a splendid opportunity.

To get directly in contact with the co-ordinator of Ealing Street Pastors email:

ealing@streetpastors.org.uk

or visit their Street Pastors website:

www.streetpastors.co.uk

Read the Street Pastors book by Les Isaac: