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Status
Received: on time
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Income
£2.2K
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Spending
£9.3K
Public benefits
We understand the pastoral care we provide as Street Pastors to be the 'Church in action' and believe this practice is a tenet of our Christian Faith which is to love God above all else and our neighbour as ourselves. Though we don't set out to make converts on the streets, many of the lives touched through our care, encounter the presence and
love of Jesus Christ on the street and may as a result choose to follow God. One benefit of working under the auspices of the Ascension Trust is the momentum carried by the Street Pastors brand. It is a well-documented fact that the work of Street Pastors has a direct impact upon public disturbance and crime reduction, reducing the number of arrests and attendances at accident and emergency departments. This benefits the public and the public purse. Our engagement with society is known for the support Street Pastors provide in spiritual, social, emotional, physical and mental well-being of individuals who are in need of care in public places. As we care for, listen to and help people during our patrols, we provide safety and make our communities safer. This is public benefit. One of our routine activities is to collect empty and broken glass bottles to prevent them from being used as weapons. This humble task has great potential in preserving life, which is beneficial to the public. Whether we mediate in conflict between revellers or simply patrol establishing a calming and reassuring presence in the streets, this is all of public benefit and assists the police to maintain public order and to reduce public spending which also benefits the public purse. When on patrol Street Pastors wear a uniform, which elicits questions from people about our Christian beliefs. When asked to, we share our belief in Jesus Christ and His love for all mankind, and pray with individuals as requested. This enlightens others about Christianity and advances the Christian Faith for the benefit of the public. For every patrol we do, the team leader submits a report, which is used to compile records (see last year’s figures). Although it is impossible to assess the impact of every encounter, our teams know that they do prevent many rapes and assaults of vulnerable people, quite apart from all the small acts of kindness they continually do. We receive heartfelt messages of thanks from grateful individuals for help received, as well as from thankful parents and friends. These messages come by email, text and Facebook. In addition the PSNI speak very highly of the work we do to support vulnerable people. They say it is a great help to them and complements the work they do, saving them making unnecessary arrests and spending hours with vulnerable people, when they have more pressing concerns. The NIHE has also been very supportive financially of Coleraine Street Pastors from the beginning, seeing the support and sense of safety we bring to the housing estates we patrol. There is a certain risk to Street Pastor volunteers in being present where people are under the influence of alcohol or drugs and where fights may break out. However our volunteers are well trained in knowing when to step back from volatile situations and let the police do what they are equipped to do. The charity's beneficiaries are members of the general public in the Causeway Coast & Glens area, who are in need of care in public places, especially in the night time economy. They could be people leaving clubs or pubs late at night, who are in distress, injured, disorientated, at risk of sexual assault or other abuse, needing help to get home safe, or displaying anti-social behaviour under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Or they could be a little group of teenagers in a housing estate congregating in a play park, who want to ask for support of some sort or engage in conversation. Each of our Street Pastor volunteers benefits, in that each volunteer is trained and equipped to be more aware of and more responsive to the needs of our community. This benefit is both incidental and necessary. No volunteer or trustee benefits financially in any way. There is no financial benefit to any of our volunteers.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
Advancement of religion: As a Christian organisation, our 75 volunteers from 33 churches serve the community especially in the night time economy, to help people who are in distress, injured, disoriented or behaving anti-socially because of alcohol or drugs. Our work involves pastoral care of the general public. In this we both demonstrate the
intrinsic Christian value of loving our neighbour without prejudice and raise awareness of the relevance of faith today. We care, listen and help as small teams of trained Street Pastors. We patrol at night clubs between 11.30pm and 4am on Saturdays; we help vulnerable people get home safely; we provide water, flip-flops & foil bodywarmers as needed, and defuse fights. We also foster community safety by doing patrols in estates, town centres and parks on Friday nights between 7.30pm and 10.30pm and at contentious football matches. We work with Police and NIHE to establish current hotspots and issues. Street Pastors wear uniform, distinguished by the Street Pastor logo. This elicits questions from people who ask about our Christian beliefs. When asked to, we share our belief in Jesus Christ and His love for all mankind and pray with individuals as requested. This advances the Christian faith for the benefit of the public. Community Capacity Building As Street Pastors our work involves liaising with police in order to address issues of socially disadvantaged groups or marginalized persons in the community. We try to uphold best practice in all our services for public benefit. As Christians, members of local churches, our work demonstrates the compassion of Jesus Christ in practical ways within the life of our community. We show the relevance of church and faith, to life and society by building the capacity and skills of our Street Pastors as non-judgmental and non-discriminatory agents of peace, reconciliation and safety in our community. This is a positive influence upon public morality and civic cohesion.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of religion
- The advancement of citizenship or community development
Who the charity helps
- Addictions (drug/solvent/alcohol abuse)
- Adult training
- Children (5-13 year olds)
- Community safety/crime prevention
- Ethnic minorities
- Ex-offenders and prisoners
- General public
- Homelessness
- Men
- Mental health
- Older people
- Physical disabilities
- Unemployed/low income
- Volunteers
- Women
- Youth (14-25 year olds)
How the charity works
- Advice/advocacy/information
- Community development
- Education/training
- General charitable purposes
- Medical/health/sickness
- Religious activities
- Volunteer development
