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Night on the town

07 March 2014

WHEN the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan (centre), joined the Street Pastors in Pontypridd, in Llandaff diocese, he found a ready welcome among some of the 1600 clubbers who were celebrating a rugby Six Nations win.

Dressed warmly in a waterproof coat, gloves, woolly hat, and fluorescent vest, he had joined the team of Pastors for the first shift of their night's patrol. "I was anxious to find out how we set out to minister to people out on the streets late at night," he said. "It was very clear that the team is well known to those out, and appreciated by them. Someone stopped to say, 'I love you Street Pastors because you love us.'

"It was also clear that the police valued the help that the volunteers could offer. The volunteers simply minister to people in vulnerable situations, and talk to them. It was surprising how quickly those conversations went from being jovial and light-hearted to talking about really quite serious things. It is a very effective way for the Church to be engaged with people and respond to their needs."

The Street Pastors in Pontypridd have been operating since 2012, and there are now 35 volunteers from nine churches. They have each undergone 50 hours' training, and are required to raise £300 towards the work.

They go out in groups, working one weekend in six, and stay on the streets until 3 a.m. The team leader for the night of the Archbishop's visit was the Vicar of St Catherine's, the Revd Peter Lewis. "Every week something significant occurs," he said, "which makes you wonder what would have happened had we not been there. There are girls walking home alone, or young people abandoned by their friends, arguments that turn nasty, and arrests.

"There are people falling down completely unconscious, and we've no idea whether they have just had too much to drink or have a serious medical condition. As Street Pastors, we can step into situations and defuse them in a way the police can't."

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