Now, if you know me at all, you’ll know I’m very much not a religious person. It’s a shame when I read about the Street Pastors in the local paper today that they have to be a member of the Christian church to work as one, but what they do is pretty amazing in my opinion.
A street pastor is someone who works with people – particularly those in their teen years – who are out and about on the street who are making a bit of an issue of themselves, to put it bluntly. They are there to protect those who feel upset or pressured by another person, seen better days or simply just having a night they would rather forget.
They go around from around 10pm until 4am on most nights (but always on Friday and Saturday nights) helping the people out, showing their presence and offering just a little lighter look on their situation.
Around Northampton, they go around the town centre nightclubs and bars picking up and recycling discarded glass bottles and cans. They create a rapport with local shop owners and bouncers, who know that they are there to help and not hinder their efforts.
An article in the Chronicle and Echo here followed them for a night, where they helped clean the streets, rehydrate a girl ill in the street and check a 70-year old man felt safe getting home. All in a night’s work. Except they do it off of their own backs.
They carry around lollipops to cheer people up who have found themselves a bit worse for wear, and flip-flops for those struggling to walk in their high-heels. Genius at work, right there.
People have respect for them around the community. Even if one drunken guy reads their jackets as ‘Street Pasta’, they know they’re loved by everyone. They do good with no strings attached. They won’t even preach to you about Jesus, which is a miracle on Abington Street anyway.
Street Pastors. People who are made of awesome.
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