Street Pastors Come To Ormskirk

20th January 2011

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Tonight sees the launch of Ormskirk's "Streeet Pastors" scheme, thanks to the vision and efforts of volunteers from a number of local churches.

Dave Mutch from Ormskirk Christian Fellowship, speaking in his capacity as co-ordinator of Street Pastors advises: “Sixteen volunteer Street Pastors from local churches have completed their basic training at Cottage Lane Mission. Following the commissioning service they'll be serving the local community every Friday night.”

The role of Street Pastors is to engage with local people and provide a caring, listening and calming influence to help everyone enjoy their night out. The pastors are specially trained to care for others, particularly the younger generation, who find themselves in need of advice and assistance.

The pastors have the support of Lancashire Constabulary as well as West Lancashire Borough Council. Councillor Paul Greenall, portfolio holder for Community Safety at WLBC, said: “They will be a valuable addition to Ormskirk during the evening, helping keep the town centre safe and ensuring it remains a place where people can enjoy themselves."

The pastors will maintain an unobtrusive presence, but they will be easily identifiable in their official uniforms. They will be out and about from 10 pm every Friday night, through until the wee hours of Saturday morning, and they won't be going home until everyone who has been out for the night has headed home happy and safe.

Good luck to Street Pastors, let's hope you have plenty of incident-free nights.