Source
For the last two years, Hull's team of Street Angel volunteers have become a regular sight on the city's streets on Friday and Saturday nights. Easily identified by their high-viz gear, they help revellers who've over-indulged get to safety, and just as importantly, encourage responsible drinking to try and prevent unfortunate incidents from even occuring. But due to members moving on, the pool of Street Angels, who take turns doing the rounds once a month, is down to just 22 members. As a result, they're struggling to put volunteers on the streets every Saturday and Friday night. What's more, it means it's currently impossible for them to go forward with their plans to expand to provide a service at major events, and after football and rugby matches. Organiser Karen Thompson says they're desperate for new people to get involved, and that all new members get comprehensive training: "At least ten more would be great. All our volunteers receive such an investment from myself and their colleagues, because we firmly believe that what they're giving us is immeasurable. We cannot pay them, they are giving their time up freely, but what we can do in return is actually invest in them." Karen says that at it's core, the Street Angels initiative is all about improving Hull as a destination: "If we can get these people home they're at less risk of getting assaulted, getting robbed, all these bad things that could happen - not that they do - but could happen. The last thing you want is someone to say, 'Well, I went to Hull for the weekend and it was terrible'. You want people to say, 'I had a fantastic time in Hull, and I felt really safe'." Comments are closed.
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ROC Angels - an initiative of ROC (Redeeming Our Communities)
Charity - 1139817 / Registered Company - 7327258 Postal Address: ROC Angels, c/o The King's Centre, Park Rd, Halifax, HX1 2TS E-Mail: [email protected] (founder / CEO) / Phone: 07725501465 |