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In partnership with Inspire Magazine we wanted to celebrate a few community heroes within the ROC Angels family.
These people or groups contribute to bringing positive change to people and communities. Of course every one of our volunteers is a Community Hero and we celebrate all who are making communities like new again! The aim of this feature is to shine a spotlight on some of the heroes who regularly and selflessly offer their time to ensure others feel wanted, safe and very much valued. |
Andy Burns BEM who founded Street Chaplains in Dundee in 2000.
Andy shares that a visit to Dundee for a fish supper late one weekend evening became the start of Street Chaplains.
“We were surprised at the vast numbers of young people in the pubs, clubs and on the streets so next week we started Street Chaplains.
“We worked under the radar for three years, building the team and working independently chatting to people and making connections.
“After a few years the police asked us what we were doing and asked if we could meet with the City Centre Sargeant.
“At that meeting he suggested we become integrated into the safety of the city centre and suggested the team wear uniforms and coats with an offer to pay for them, spending £3500 on high quality jackets for the growing team.
“The jackets are still in use today!”
The project went from strength to strength as the jacketed team spoke with door staff, pub and club owners and DJ’s. The team are very much focussed on outreach, wanting to share the hope that is found in Jesus, and all members are encouraged to think of new and innovative ideas to reach out within Dundee.
“At one stage we were joining in with the pub karaokes with the team singing hymns such as ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’, ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘He’s got the whole world in his hands’ which went down exceptionally well as it was featured in the film Sister Act at the time.”
Over the years the work of the Street Chaplains has expanded to include work with the homeless, nightclub chaplaincy and Festival Chaplains.
“We have made some strategic links with a wide range of organisations including Dundee City Council Licensing Board and Dundee Anti-Crime Network where we meet monthly with police, bar staff and managers to ensure that Dundee is a safe and vibrant night out for people.”
One of the key developments is Festival Chaplains which started in Montrose, at Mo Fest, in 2013 and has since expanded to include Edinburgh Festival, Brechin Festival and one off events such as Radio 1’s Big Weekend. The team have also connected with The Living Room in Tenerife with several of the team visiting to take part in outreach in Los Americas amongst visitors and workers.
Andy moved back to his home town in Northern Ireland in 2015 where he saw a need for Street Chaplains in towns in Northern Ireland including Lurgan, Newcastle and Kilkeel which he started in partnership with local church communities.
“We hope to keep developing new ideas for the future with daytime chaplains in Northern Ireland a possibility and prayer walking as communities come out of the various lockdowns.
“Our heart and vision at this time is to look at how we offer support and help to business owners both during the day and in the evenings to help them as they recover from 2020.”
In 2018 Andy was recognised by Her Majesty the Queen and received a BEM (British Empire Medal). Andy and a few of the volunteers, bar staff and managers and church representatives attended a reception in Dundee City Chambers where the Lord Lieutenant presented Andy with his honour. Later in the year Andy and his wife Marina were invited to the Queen’s Garden Party in Holyrood Palace where he met the Queen.
“This honour is on behalf of all the volunteers who have invested amazingly into local communities both in Scotland and Northern Ireland and is doing so have seen a reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour and shown people the hope and love that can be known through Jesus.”
Over the 20 years the team has helped and assisted hundreds of people.
“Recently in Newcastle a young man approached the team to share that he had been a drug addict and drunk at least a bottle of vodka a day.
“Through one of the Street Chaplain volunteers chatting to him and showing that his life had worth and meaning he decided to go to rehab and went to a Christain rehab centre in Manchester.
“He is now back in Newcastle and has joined a local church and is getting his life on track with a prayer and hope to go to Bible College and become a pastor.”
Street Chaplains have a motto of Reaching Out to make Christ Known and the team are certainly doing that amongst some of the least reached people in Dundee and Northern Ireland.
To find out more visit dundeechaplains.org.uk or facebook.com/ROCKStreetChaplains.
Andy shares that a visit to Dundee for a fish supper late one weekend evening became the start of Street Chaplains.
“We were surprised at the vast numbers of young people in the pubs, clubs and on the streets so next week we started Street Chaplains.
“We worked under the radar for three years, building the team and working independently chatting to people and making connections.
“After a few years the police asked us what we were doing and asked if we could meet with the City Centre Sargeant.
“At that meeting he suggested we become integrated into the safety of the city centre and suggested the team wear uniforms and coats with an offer to pay for them, spending £3500 on high quality jackets for the growing team.
“The jackets are still in use today!”
The project went from strength to strength as the jacketed team spoke with door staff, pub and club owners and DJ’s. The team are very much focussed on outreach, wanting to share the hope that is found in Jesus, and all members are encouraged to think of new and innovative ideas to reach out within Dundee.
“At one stage we were joining in with the pub karaokes with the team singing hymns such as ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’, ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘He’s got the whole world in his hands’ which went down exceptionally well as it was featured in the film Sister Act at the time.”
Over the years the work of the Street Chaplains has expanded to include work with the homeless, nightclub chaplaincy and Festival Chaplains.
“We have made some strategic links with a wide range of organisations including Dundee City Council Licensing Board and Dundee Anti-Crime Network where we meet monthly with police, bar staff and managers to ensure that Dundee is a safe and vibrant night out for people.”
One of the key developments is Festival Chaplains which started in Montrose, at Mo Fest, in 2013 and has since expanded to include Edinburgh Festival, Brechin Festival and one off events such as Radio 1’s Big Weekend. The team have also connected with The Living Room in Tenerife with several of the team visiting to take part in outreach in Los Americas amongst visitors and workers.
Andy moved back to his home town in Northern Ireland in 2015 where he saw a need for Street Chaplains in towns in Northern Ireland including Lurgan, Newcastle and Kilkeel which he started in partnership with local church communities.
“We hope to keep developing new ideas for the future with daytime chaplains in Northern Ireland a possibility and prayer walking as communities come out of the various lockdowns.
“Our heart and vision at this time is to look at how we offer support and help to business owners both during the day and in the evenings to help them as they recover from 2020.”
In 2018 Andy was recognised by Her Majesty the Queen and received a BEM (British Empire Medal). Andy and a few of the volunteers, bar staff and managers and church representatives attended a reception in Dundee City Chambers where the Lord Lieutenant presented Andy with his honour. Later in the year Andy and his wife Marina were invited to the Queen’s Garden Party in Holyrood Palace where he met the Queen.
“This honour is on behalf of all the volunteers who have invested amazingly into local communities both in Scotland and Northern Ireland and is doing so have seen a reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour and shown people the hope and love that can be known through Jesus.”
Over the 20 years the team has helped and assisted hundreds of people.
“Recently in Newcastle a young man approached the team to share that he had been a drug addict and drunk at least a bottle of vodka a day.
“Through one of the Street Chaplain volunteers chatting to him and showing that his life had worth and meaning he decided to go to rehab and went to a Christain rehab centre in Manchester.
“He is now back in Newcastle and has joined a local church and is getting his life on track with a prayer and hope to go to Bible College and become a pastor.”
Street Chaplains have a motto of Reaching Out to make Christ Known and the team are certainly doing that amongst some of the least reached people in Dundee and Northern Ireland.
To find out more visit dundeechaplains.org.uk or facebook.com/ROCKStreetChaplains.
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Frances Novillo, Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy
Frances has spent most of her career as a church musician and then went back to university to complete a Masters in the Psychology of Religion, during which Frances started to volunteer as a Chaplain with Hertfordshire Police.
“I started the course not expecting to change my career but it surprised me that I could hold my faith position with integrity in discussion with people of other and no faith backgrounds.
“Through my ministry with church music I was mostly working with Christians, whereas the course and volunteering made me realise that I was able to be a person of Christian faith in the wider sphere of society.
“Working in chaplaincy in Hertfordshire I met people from the Jewish, Muslim and Pagan communities and for me that helped me to become clearer expressing my faith as I didn’t have the safety blanket of only talking to people who were Christian, like me.
“I have become a more faith-filled Christian ministering outside of the church setting.”
After graduating, Frances saw an advert for a Lead Chaplain with Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy.
“I took on this role in 2018 which encompassed Street Angels and Town Centre Chaplaincy.
“Walking into the office and seeing stab vests made me wonder what on earth I had let myself in for!
“However speaking to the Police I was relieved to be advised we didn't need to wear stab vests and when out on patrol with the Street Angels I realised how much we were welcomed, accepted and loved by the people out and about in Watford on weekend evenings.”
A large part of the Lead Chaplain's role was to pull together policies and procedures to help safeguard the volunteers in the work they do. Frances has also become a key part of wider strategic planning for the smooth running of the town, taking part in PubWatch, Community Protection Group, Domestic Abuse Forum, Suicide Prevention Board and the Bereavement Forum.
“Having the Street Angels and church voice heard in these groups is good for the work across the country as others involved are often part of national networks.
“It is a massive responsibility to be a Christian invited to a place at the table of these mostly secular groups discussing dynamics that affect and bring change to our community and people.
“I really sense I am an ambassador for Christ and a link to the wider church community at these meetings.
“We do though need to change our language and attitudes away from Christianese to fit in with the language spoken by those we partner with seeking to bring and influence change.”
After two and a half years working with Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy Frances is about to move on to a new role of Multi Faith Chaplaincy Lead for Surrey and Sussex Police.
“Part of the appeal of this role was the criteria in the job description to liaise with the Street Angel and Street Pastor projects across the region, which shows the high esteem that our work is held in.
This year Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy has benefited from the Government’s encouragement for people to volunteer as well as a rising awareness of the pressures on people at work during an economic downturn.
“We have eleven volunteer chaplains visiting businesses such as Pret, Starbucks, Wetherspoons, gyms, gift shops, the Market and Town Hall.
“As a Chaplaincy we were really sorry to hear that John Lewis would not be reopening in Watford but we were available to support the staff who were facing redundancy.
“Our Chaplains are supporting other shop staff and business owners facing a worrying future, for example, the ripple effect of John Lewis closing has caused concern that customers who used to come to Watford for John Lewis but stay to visit other shops simply won't come back.”
“Our daytime Chaplains and night-time Street Angels continue to be a sign of hope and joy day and night across the town centre.
Frances has also started other initiatives such as Watford Wellness working with the Chamber of Commerce will continue thanks to the amazing dedicated volunteer team.
For more information visit watfordtcc.org, facebook.com/watfordtcc and twitter.com/watford_TCC
Frances has spent most of her career as a church musician and then went back to university to complete a Masters in the Psychology of Religion, during which Frances started to volunteer as a Chaplain with Hertfordshire Police.
“I started the course not expecting to change my career but it surprised me that I could hold my faith position with integrity in discussion with people of other and no faith backgrounds.
“Through my ministry with church music I was mostly working with Christians, whereas the course and volunteering made me realise that I was able to be a person of Christian faith in the wider sphere of society.
“Working in chaplaincy in Hertfordshire I met people from the Jewish, Muslim and Pagan communities and for me that helped me to become clearer expressing my faith as I didn’t have the safety blanket of only talking to people who were Christian, like me.
“I have become a more faith-filled Christian ministering outside of the church setting.”
After graduating, Frances saw an advert for a Lead Chaplain with Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy.
“I took on this role in 2018 which encompassed Street Angels and Town Centre Chaplaincy.
“Walking into the office and seeing stab vests made me wonder what on earth I had let myself in for!
“However speaking to the Police I was relieved to be advised we didn't need to wear stab vests and when out on patrol with the Street Angels I realised how much we were welcomed, accepted and loved by the people out and about in Watford on weekend evenings.”
A large part of the Lead Chaplain's role was to pull together policies and procedures to help safeguard the volunteers in the work they do. Frances has also become a key part of wider strategic planning for the smooth running of the town, taking part in PubWatch, Community Protection Group, Domestic Abuse Forum, Suicide Prevention Board and the Bereavement Forum.
“Having the Street Angels and church voice heard in these groups is good for the work across the country as others involved are often part of national networks.
“It is a massive responsibility to be a Christian invited to a place at the table of these mostly secular groups discussing dynamics that affect and bring change to our community and people.
“I really sense I am an ambassador for Christ and a link to the wider church community at these meetings.
“We do though need to change our language and attitudes away from Christianese to fit in with the language spoken by those we partner with seeking to bring and influence change.”
After two and a half years working with Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy Frances is about to move on to a new role of Multi Faith Chaplaincy Lead for Surrey and Sussex Police.
“Part of the appeal of this role was the criteria in the job description to liaise with the Street Angel and Street Pastor projects across the region, which shows the high esteem that our work is held in.
This year Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy has benefited from the Government’s encouragement for people to volunteer as well as a rising awareness of the pressures on people at work during an economic downturn.
“We have eleven volunteer chaplains visiting businesses such as Pret, Starbucks, Wetherspoons, gyms, gift shops, the Market and Town Hall.
“As a Chaplaincy we were really sorry to hear that John Lewis would not be reopening in Watford but we were available to support the staff who were facing redundancy.
“Our Chaplains are supporting other shop staff and business owners facing a worrying future, for example, the ripple effect of John Lewis closing has caused concern that customers who used to come to Watford for John Lewis but stay to visit other shops simply won't come back.”
“Our daytime Chaplains and night-time Street Angels continue to be a sign of hope and joy day and night across the town centre.
Frances has also started other initiatives such as Watford Wellness working with the Chamber of Commerce will continue thanks to the amazing dedicated volunteer team.
For more information visit watfordtcc.org, facebook.com/watfordtcc and twitter.com/watford_TCC
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Dirk-Jan Boerman from Beach Mission
Dirk-Jan Boerman from Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel, close to Rotterdam in Holland. Dirk is the co-founder of Beach Mission who work in several European holiday resorts over the summer months.
Dirk grew up in a Christian family with a view of God that he had to obey many rules and that to be a Christian would mean a boring life. Dirk explains,
“I was trying to keep in the middle, I didn’t want to make a choice for a long time.
“On one side I believed that God existed but on the other side I wanted to have a free life.
“At 16 years old I went to a Christian concert and a speaker shared that God cared for me and wanted me to have a personal relationship with him.
“That message spoke deep into my heart and all of a sudden I comprehend what the message of the Gospel was but thought I may change my mind by the next day so responded privately by praying that I was not sure if I could give my all.”
This prayer led to Dirk reading the Bible over and over and the messages from the preacher becoming very relevant and real to Dirk.
After High School Dirk went to Delft University to study biochemical engineering.
At University there were very few Christians and Dirk was struck by the way other students spoke about Christians with many saying if you are a bad scientist you believe in God as he is the answer to all problems which cannot be solved.
“I started to pray with other Christians at University and after a while I recognised the need for more sharing of faith and others advised that I would be a good person to do this.
“A group on the University were active in sharing their faith on the streets on Wednesday’s and after many weeks I decided to join them.
“I thought sharing my faith would be hard and difficult but I had very good conversations and was really happy to do so.”
In the Summer Dirk became involved in an organisation, Naar House, that was evangelising in the city as well as at raves. Dirk was involved in Naar House for 12 years and became part of the board of trustees.
“Having a good conversation is not the goal of mission work.
“Jesus did not say go and have a good conversation, pray a prayer of decision or go and make people sit in a church.
“Jesus said go and make disciples.”
Dirk started to look at how there could be better follow-up with those who had fruitful conversations. In 2007 he led a team to holiday resorts in Holland with a vision to go where the young people they met at the raves went on holiday.
“My vision was for summer resorts and so in 2014 I left Naar House to focus on reaching people in holiday resorts abroad.
“This was the start of Beach Mission.”
Since 2014 Dirk has coordinated 20 teams who have served at holiday resorts across Europe including Sunny Beach in Bulgaria, Albufeira in Portugal and Salou and Lloret de Mar in Spain as well as Texel in Holland.
“Every night the teams are round and about in the nightlife wearing yellow polo shirts with a different bible verse which is unique to the individual on the back.
“The yellow shirts are easily spotted and a conversation starts quite easily.
“We are also able to help them by assisting them to the hotel or apartment and giving out flip-flops, bottles of water and bracelets with the web site which are very popular.
“We invite those we reach to a twice-weekly barbecue where we have free food, music, DJ and someone who will share their life story.
“For those who are interested they can stay a little longer and we offer the first night of the Alpha Course which is available in many languages and in every European country.”
This year has been very different to other years with coronavirus affecting the trips, with Bulgaria and Spain needing to be cancelled and only Holland and Albufeira going ahead.
“The trips still resulted in people coming to faith, people been baptised and miracles happening.
“We experienced God very close and the week in Portugal was very special with God’s presence very close.
“We do our work to help others but the first blessing we receive is for each person on the team.”
Dirk shared the story of a bizarre evening whilst on BeachMission.
"Cees and Ricardo decided to sing a song for a boy.
"He called his friends back, which led to a large circle singing about God.
"Outside the circle a boy and girl were watching and so one of the team Ricardo walked over to them.
"Another of the team, Femke, wondered what was wrong with the girl's (Maelle) foot, since it was in a cast.
"Because they were French Viveck helped to translate and after a chat we offered to pray for her foot.
"She indicated that it gave a peaceful feeling and Ricardo stepped out by asking if she wanted to walk which Maelle did and reported that the pain had diminished.
"We immediately decided to pray again, after which she started walking again, still pain free.
"The team prayed that Jesus would take away all the pain and heal her broken foot, and yes God did thje miraculous and she walk without pain!
"It was really, really great to see what God was doing here, he touched her heart, yet her boyfriend though sceptical could not deny what a miracle Jesus has done in the life of his girlfriend.
"God again and again shows His greatness through miracles, worship and great conversations."
Beach Mission is a very practical way of reaching mainly young people on holiday across Europe. Dirk and the team are now looking to plan for 2021 putting in place logistics around covid. For more information visit en.beachmission.org
Dirk-Jan Boerman from Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel, close to Rotterdam in Holland. Dirk is the co-founder of Beach Mission who work in several European holiday resorts over the summer months.
Dirk grew up in a Christian family with a view of God that he had to obey many rules and that to be a Christian would mean a boring life. Dirk explains,
“I was trying to keep in the middle, I didn’t want to make a choice for a long time.
“On one side I believed that God existed but on the other side I wanted to have a free life.
“At 16 years old I went to a Christian concert and a speaker shared that God cared for me and wanted me to have a personal relationship with him.
“That message spoke deep into my heart and all of a sudden I comprehend what the message of the Gospel was but thought I may change my mind by the next day so responded privately by praying that I was not sure if I could give my all.”
This prayer led to Dirk reading the Bible over and over and the messages from the preacher becoming very relevant and real to Dirk.
After High School Dirk went to Delft University to study biochemical engineering.
At University there were very few Christians and Dirk was struck by the way other students spoke about Christians with many saying if you are a bad scientist you believe in God as he is the answer to all problems which cannot be solved.
“I started to pray with other Christians at University and after a while I recognised the need for more sharing of faith and others advised that I would be a good person to do this.
“A group on the University were active in sharing their faith on the streets on Wednesday’s and after many weeks I decided to join them.
“I thought sharing my faith would be hard and difficult but I had very good conversations and was really happy to do so.”
In the Summer Dirk became involved in an organisation, Naar House, that was evangelising in the city as well as at raves. Dirk was involved in Naar House for 12 years and became part of the board of trustees.
“Having a good conversation is not the goal of mission work.
“Jesus did not say go and have a good conversation, pray a prayer of decision or go and make people sit in a church.
“Jesus said go and make disciples.”
Dirk started to look at how there could be better follow-up with those who had fruitful conversations. In 2007 he led a team to holiday resorts in Holland with a vision to go where the young people they met at the raves went on holiday.
“My vision was for summer resorts and so in 2014 I left Naar House to focus on reaching people in holiday resorts abroad.
“This was the start of Beach Mission.”
Since 2014 Dirk has coordinated 20 teams who have served at holiday resorts across Europe including Sunny Beach in Bulgaria, Albufeira in Portugal and Salou and Lloret de Mar in Spain as well as Texel in Holland.
“Every night the teams are round and about in the nightlife wearing yellow polo shirts with a different bible verse which is unique to the individual on the back.
“The yellow shirts are easily spotted and a conversation starts quite easily.
“We are also able to help them by assisting them to the hotel or apartment and giving out flip-flops, bottles of water and bracelets with the web site which are very popular.
“We invite those we reach to a twice-weekly barbecue where we have free food, music, DJ and someone who will share their life story.
“For those who are interested they can stay a little longer and we offer the first night of the Alpha Course which is available in many languages and in every European country.”
This year has been very different to other years with coronavirus affecting the trips, with Bulgaria and Spain needing to be cancelled and only Holland and Albufeira going ahead.
“The trips still resulted in people coming to faith, people been baptised and miracles happening.
“We experienced God very close and the week in Portugal was very special with God’s presence very close.
“We do our work to help others but the first blessing we receive is for each person on the team.”
Dirk shared the story of a bizarre evening whilst on BeachMission.
"Cees and Ricardo decided to sing a song for a boy.
"He called his friends back, which led to a large circle singing about God.
"Outside the circle a boy and girl were watching and so one of the team Ricardo walked over to them.
"Another of the team, Femke, wondered what was wrong with the girl's (Maelle) foot, since it was in a cast.
"Because they were French Viveck helped to translate and after a chat we offered to pray for her foot.
"She indicated that it gave a peaceful feeling and Ricardo stepped out by asking if she wanted to walk which Maelle did and reported that the pain had diminished.
"We immediately decided to pray again, after which she started walking again, still pain free.
"The team prayed that Jesus would take away all the pain and heal her broken foot, and yes God did thje miraculous and she walk without pain!
"It was really, really great to see what God was doing here, he touched her heart, yet her boyfriend though sceptical could not deny what a miracle Jesus has done in the life of his girlfriend.
"God again and again shows His greatness through miracles, worship and great conversations."
Beach Mission is a very practical way of reaching mainly young people on holiday across Europe. Dirk and the team are now looking to plan for 2021 putting in place logistics around covid. For more information visit en.beachmission.org
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Kathryn Wright, Dundee Street Chaplains
Kathryn started with Street Chaplains in 2016 and has been with the team on and off as life allows. Kathryn came to faith around six months before joining the team
“Most of my life I had zero interest in faith and I reached a point in my life where I was going to end it.
“God intervened quite dramatically and gave me a new life.
“This changed the world for me and it changed how I viewed the world around me as well.
Kathryn met Andy Burns, a fellow back row dweller at Central Baptist Church, Dundee, and he told her about Street Chaplains which he founded in 2000.
“Andy chatted to me and asked if I was an insomniac and didn’t mind missing out on sleep.”
Kathryn wasn’t sure if she was the kind of person who was or should be involved in this work due to a lifelong shyness. Kathryn explained,
“I am a mess, who am I to be going out and helping someone else?”
However Kathryn was inspired by the story in Luke 8:39 where Jesus healed the demon possessed man and then told him to go and tell people what had happened. This brought about a dramatic change for Kathryn and as such she was challenged to go and meet people where she could share her faith.
“The Street Chaplains meet and share care and compassion with people who are hurting, the ones falling out of the bars drunk and the LGBTQ community.
“These are the people who often don’t have any or much positive Christian influence in their lives.
“They know bits and pieces and some words but, like myself before 2016, have a deep fear of the church and Christians.
Kathryn felt despite the fact she isn’t the best at talking to people, that she wouldn't have all the answers and had as much need as those the Street Chaplains were seeking to help, she knew this was something she wanted to be involved in.
“The Street Chaplains team welcomed me with open arms and are an inspiration to work with.
“They feel like a family and I am privileged to be part of that.
“It is amazing the conversations you end up having with people - people you wouldn’t meet in other circumstances.”
The key to the work of Street Chaplains is serving people and serving the community. In this role of serving the team meet a wide range of fascinating and interesting people and one night Kathryn ended up talking to a group of drunk Santa’s about Jesus!
“It does bring home that it is not about us, it is not about our ability, God is the one doing the work and he shows us what to do - we need to trust in that.”
Kathryn’s paid work is a Member Pioneer at the Co-Op supermarket in Broughty Ferry. This role sees Kathryn connecting with local groups and organisations to offer support and networking with each other to help build more resilience in the community.
“At the moment we are aiming to help with food poverty and giving away excess stock to enable charities to feed the most vulnerable in the community.”
In summer 2019 Kathryn started part time Theological Studies at Highland Theological College.
“This has been amazing and to have the time to be able to do this is a privilege.
“It is hard work and very challenging but is absolutely worth it.”
Over the last four years since the dramatic change when Kathryn became a follower of Jesus, she is filled with a sense that this life is to be lived for God and as such has a deep desire to serve and show that love to other people.
Kathryn started with Street Chaplains in 2016 and has been with the team on and off as life allows. Kathryn came to faith around six months before joining the team
“Most of my life I had zero interest in faith and I reached a point in my life where I was going to end it.
“God intervened quite dramatically and gave me a new life.
“This changed the world for me and it changed how I viewed the world around me as well.
Kathryn met Andy Burns, a fellow back row dweller at Central Baptist Church, Dundee, and he told her about Street Chaplains which he founded in 2000.
“Andy chatted to me and asked if I was an insomniac and didn’t mind missing out on sleep.”
Kathryn wasn’t sure if she was the kind of person who was or should be involved in this work due to a lifelong shyness. Kathryn explained,
“I am a mess, who am I to be going out and helping someone else?”
However Kathryn was inspired by the story in Luke 8:39 where Jesus healed the demon possessed man and then told him to go and tell people what had happened. This brought about a dramatic change for Kathryn and as such she was challenged to go and meet people where she could share her faith.
“The Street Chaplains meet and share care and compassion with people who are hurting, the ones falling out of the bars drunk and the LGBTQ community.
“These are the people who often don’t have any or much positive Christian influence in their lives.
“They know bits and pieces and some words but, like myself before 2016, have a deep fear of the church and Christians.
Kathryn felt despite the fact she isn’t the best at talking to people, that she wouldn't have all the answers and had as much need as those the Street Chaplains were seeking to help, she knew this was something she wanted to be involved in.
“The Street Chaplains team welcomed me with open arms and are an inspiration to work with.
“They feel like a family and I am privileged to be part of that.
“It is amazing the conversations you end up having with people - people you wouldn’t meet in other circumstances.”
The key to the work of Street Chaplains is serving people and serving the community. In this role of serving the team meet a wide range of fascinating and interesting people and one night Kathryn ended up talking to a group of drunk Santa’s about Jesus!
“It does bring home that it is not about us, it is not about our ability, God is the one doing the work and he shows us what to do - we need to trust in that.”
Kathryn’s paid work is a Member Pioneer at the Co-Op supermarket in Broughty Ferry. This role sees Kathryn connecting with local groups and organisations to offer support and networking with each other to help build more resilience in the community.
“At the moment we are aiming to help with food poverty and giving away excess stock to enable charities to feed the most vulnerable in the community.”
In summer 2019 Kathryn started part time Theological Studies at Highland Theological College.
“This has been amazing and to have the time to be able to do this is a privilege.
“It is hard work and very challenging but is absolutely worth it.”
Over the last four years since the dramatic change when Kathryn became a follower of Jesus, she is filled with a sense that this life is to be lived for God and as such has a deep desire to serve and show that love to other people.
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Marcus Bennett, Dewsbury Street Angels
Marcus who has had an involvement in so many local projects, despite facing considerable personal challenges of his own ...
Marcus grew up in Luton and describes himself as a Londoner who is currently living in West Yorkshire. He has 20+ years experience of church leadership as an Elim Pastor.
He has had involvement in starting up a wide variety of projects including Wimbledon Food Bank, one of the first one hundred Trussell Trust foodbanks to open in the UK. He is a former trustee of London’s biggest YMCA.
Marcus went to university as an agnostic, to study theology and business. Three weeks into university a friend explained the the gospel to him and he experienced, to quote John Wesley, “his heart was strangely warmed” and he committed his life to Christ. Settling into a local Elim church in Wimbledon, he went on to lead a church in Mitcham, eventually became the minister in training and taking on leading the church.
Marcus explains, “As a minister one of the people I would regularly pray with was Carolyn Skinner, who was in the process of setting up Third Space Ministries, which now heads up Club Angels.”
Marcus was involved in the ‘Love All Serve All’ outreach at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament queue, which involved sharing the love of Christ with the tens of thousands of people camping out overnight on Wimbledon Park waiting for tickets.
In 2014, he moved to West Yorkshire to lead the Elim church in Dewsbury. Marcus co-founded Dewsbury and District Street Angels at the request of the local council to operate daytime in Dewsbury town centre, helping meet needs around vulnerability, loneliness and street drinkers. During his time at Dewsbury Elim, a Romanian-speaking church was started to help support Romanian residents in the area. This helped combat poverty and promote community integration.
Marcus shares, “Sadly mental health issues meant I had to step down from pastoring the church at Dewsbury.
“Needless to say, this was a difficult time for all concerned.
“Realising that mental health is as much a medical issue as it is a spiritual one became the key to my healing and recovering.”
Over time Marcus learnt to get back into a much healthier daily and weekly routine, including a proper day of rest. Marcus encourages those who are struggling to seek help and know that recovery is possible.
“I have set up as self-employed to offer life coaching helping people to recover from burnout, or better still avoid it!
Marcus who has had an involvement in so many local projects, despite facing considerable personal challenges of his own ...
Marcus grew up in Luton and describes himself as a Londoner who is currently living in West Yorkshire. He has 20+ years experience of church leadership as an Elim Pastor.
He has had involvement in starting up a wide variety of projects including Wimbledon Food Bank, one of the first one hundred Trussell Trust foodbanks to open in the UK. He is a former trustee of London’s biggest YMCA.
Marcus went to university as an agnostic, to study theology and business. Three weeks into university a friend explained the the gospel to him and he experienced, to quote John Wesley, “his heart was strangely warmed” and he committed his life to Christ. Settling into a local Elim church in Wimbledon, he went on to lead a church in Mitcham, eventually became the minister in training and taking on leading the church.
Marcus explains, “As a minister one of the people I would regularly pray with was Carolyn Skinner, who was in the process of setting up Third Space Ministries, which now heads up Club Angels.”
Marcus was involved in the ‘Love All Serve All’ outreach at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament queue, which involved sharing the love of Christ with the tens of thousands of people camping out overnight on Wimbledon Park waiting for tickets.
In 2014, he moved to West Yorkshire to lead the Elim church in Dewsbury. Marcus co-founded Dewsbury and District Street Angels at the request of the local council to operate daytime in Dewsbury town centre, helping meet needs around vulnerability, loneliness and street drinkers. During his time at Dewsbury Elim, a Romanian-speaking church was started to help support Romanian residents in the area. This helped combat poverty and promote community integration.
Marcus shares, “Sadly mental health issues meant I had to step down from pastoring the church at Dewsbury.
“Needless to say, this was a difficult time for all concerned.
“Realising that mental health is as much a medical issue as it is a spiritual one became the key to my healing and recovering.”
Over time Marcus learnt to get back into a much healthier daily and weekly routine, including a proper day of rest. Marcus encourages those who are struggling to seek help and know that recovery is possible.
“I have set up as self-employed to offer life coaching helping people to recover from burnout, or better still avoid it!
“I have a part-time role with The Torch Trust, promoting its sight-loss friendly church scheme which helps to equip churches to enable blind and partially-sighted people to have an equal, full and active role in the church community, and reach out in help with the spiritual needs of the sight loss community.”
Throughout his life as a Christian Marcus has seen time and again how the church can make a difference in local communities and how the people of faith can be a massive force for good within the wider society.
He concludes, “Be kind, always look to do good and ‘whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might!’” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
Throughout his life as a Christian Marcus has seen time and again how the church can make a difference in local communities and how the people of faith can be a massive force for good within the wider society.
He concludes, “Be kind, always look to do good and ‘whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might!’” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
Catherine Turnbull-Ross, Aylesbury Town Chaplaincy / Street Angels
A Chaplaincy for Aylesbury had an idea for several years among church leaders when a meeting with the Chaplain from Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy in 2010 became the catalyst to move from an idea to action.
Catherine tells the story, “Towards the end of 2010 I had resigned from my job and I attended a joint church meeting where the idea of setting up a Chaplaincy in Aylesbury was discussed.
“As the meeting was coming to an end a request was made for someone with organisational skills and time who could move the project to the next level.”
Rather like the ‘it could be you’ lottery advert with the pointing finger, Catherine believed that God was saying ‘it could be you’, and so once finished full time work she was given a blank piece of paper and worked with a couple of the Church leaders to take things forward. They spoke to various people including the local Police, councils, town centre agencies and church leaders to ensure support for the idea was there. She explains,
“The meeting with the Police was the most positive meeting I have ever been involved in.
“They could not wait for us to start both day and night-time.
“With this enthusiasm we had most churches in the town on board and the finances to be able to employ myself as Operations Manager and Mark Knight to oversee the Street Angels.”
The first year saw a handful of amazing volunteer Chaplains in the town centre visiting the local shops. The Further Education College approached us requesting a College Chaplain as did the Healthy Living Centre who wanted a Chaplain to be around during the Child Health Clinic to connect with parents of small children. Twelve Street Angels volunteers were also recruited and started during one of the coldest Aylesbury winters in years.
Catherine commented, “The Street Angels team built up relationships with licensees, doormen, Police and Paramedics who soon realised the project was not a flash in the pan but here for the long term, especially seeing volunteers willing to go out week after week in sub-zero temperatures.
“The chaplains get alongside people to get to know them.
“This gives people an opportunity to talk about the deeper things in life.”
Chaplains are now available in supermarkets, the Police Station, Local University Campus, the Courts, District Council offices and out and about around the town centre. Catherine values the volunteer team and sees these as the heart of all that Chaplaincy is.
“These amazing volunteers are getting alongside people, listening and being genuinely interested in people’s lives.
“Time is valuable and is one of the greatest things we can invest into others.
“We also signpost people to local and national organisations who can offer further support and have produced a card which has a list of agencies available to give to people so they can take it further if they wish.”
Currently there are twenty amazing Street Angel volunteers who go out on weekend evenings between 11pm and 3.30am. They offer a listening ear and more practical help such as hot drinks for the homeless, flip-flops for those who have hurt feet, finding a taxi and giving out thousands of lollies every year, mostly to door staff! The Street Angels are noted as having a calming community presence.
Aylesbury Town Chaplaincy also oversee the Healing on the Streets team who are available to offer prayer once a month for healing in mind, body and spirit. The Healing on the Streets benefits are welcomed by partner agencies such as the Town Centre Manager.
Catherine has really appreciated getting to know all those working for the good of the town such as Local Councils, Police, Town Centre Management and those who run the various festivals we have in our town.
“You don’t see that when you sit in your church building but thanks to the Chaplaincy the church is now a valued partner joining in with the great stuff that is happening here, working for the good and prosperity of the town.
“I must stress that the real community heroes are our amazing volunteers who invest a massive amount into the life and community of Aylesbury and those I have met from other Chaplaincy teams and night-time work through various networks.
"These show we are an international movement taking church and Jesus to where people are.”
At the moment none of the teams are operating normally due to coronavirus but Chaplaincy is available over the phone and volunteers are receiving on-line training to best support more evident areas of need once the lockdown is over, such as supporting those who are lonely and need someone to chat to and those who have had a bereavement during the last few weeks and not been able to attend the funeral or say goodbye.
Catherine concluded by saying that all the volunteers love taking the church outside of its own activity to be a blessing to the town.
“The strapline of Aylesbury Town Chaplaincy is ‘serving the heart of our town’ and that is something we have done over the last ten years and plan to do for many years to come.”
A Chaplaincy for Aylesbury had an idea for several years among church leaders when a meeting with the Chaplain from Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy in 2010 became the catalyst to move from an idea to action.
Catherine tells the story, “Towards the end of 2010 I had resigned from my job and I attended a joint church meeting where the idea of setting up a Chaplaincy in Aylesbury was discussed.
“As the meeting was coming to an end a request was made for someone with organisational skills and time who could move the project to the next level.”
Rather like the ‘it could be you’ lottery advert with the pointing finger, Catherine believed that God was saying ‘it could be you’, and so once finished full time work she was given a blank piece of paper and worked with a couple of the Church leaders to take things forward. They spoke to various people including the local Police, councils, town centre agencies and church leaders to ensure support for the idea was there. She explains,
“The meeting with the Police was the most positive meeting I have ever been involved in.
“They could not wait for us to start both day and night-time.
“With this enthusiasm we had most churches in the town on board and the finances to be able to employ myself as Operations Manager and Mark Knight to oversee the Street Angels.”
The first year saw a handful of amazing volunteer Chaplains in the town centre visiting the local shops. The Further Education College approached us requesting a College Chaplain as did the Healthy Living Centre who wanted a Chaplain to be around during the Child Health Clinic to connect with parents of small children. Twelve Street Angels volunteers were also recruited and started during one of the coldest Aylesbury winters in years.
Catherine commented, “The Street Angels team built up relationships with licensees, doormen, Police and Paramedics who soon realised the project was not a flash in the pan but here for the long term, especially seeing volunteers willing to go out week after week in sub-zero temperatures.
“The chaplains get alongside people to get to know them.
“This gives people an opportunity to talk about the deeper things in life.”
Chaplains are now available in supermarkets, the Police Station, Local University Campus, the Courts, District Council offices and out and about around the town centre. Catherine values the volunteer team and sees these as the heart of all that Chaplaincy is.
“These amazing volunteers are getting alongside people, listening and being genuinely interested in people’s lives.
“Time is valuable and is one of the greatest things we can invest into others.
“We also signpost people to local and national organisations who can offer further support and have produced a card which has a list of agencies available to give to people so they can take it further if they wish.”
Currently there are twenty amazing Street Angel volunteers who go out on weekend evenings between 11pm and 3.30am. They offer a listening ear and more practical help such as hot drinks for the homeless, flip-flops for those who have hurt feet, finding a taxi and giving out thousands of lollies every year, mostly to door staff! The Street Angels are noted as having a calming community presence.
Aylesbury Town Chaplaincy also oversee the Healing on the Streets team who are available to offer prayer once a month for healing in mind, body and spirit. The Healing on the Streets benefits are welcomed by partner agencies such as the Town Centre Manager.
Catherine has really appreciated getting to know all those working for the good of the town such as Local Councils, Police, Town Centre Management and those who run the various festivals we have in our town.
“You don’t see that when you sit in your church building but thanks to the Chaplaincy the church is now a valued partner joining in with the great stuff that is happening here, working for the good and prosperity of the town.
“I must stress that the real community heroes are our amazing volunteers who invest a massive amount into the life and community of Aylesbury and those I have met from other Chaplaincy teams and night-time work through various networks.
"These show we are an international movement taking church and Jesus to where people are.”
At the moment none of the teams are operating normally due to coronavirus but Chaplaincy is available over the phone and volunteers are receiving on-line training to best support more evident areas of need once the lockdown is over, such as supporting those who are lonely and need someone to chat to and those who have had a bereavement during the last few weeks and not been able to attend the funeral or say goodbye.
Catherine concluded by saying that all the volunteers love taking the church outside of its own activity to be a blessing to the town.
“The strapline of Aylesbury Town Chaplaincy is ‘serving the heart of our town’ and that is something we have done over the last ten years and plan to do for many years to come.”
George Varney, 61 from Woking:
George worked for Shell, the oil company, for 41 years and a health issue in 2016 led to George rethinking life and so took early retirement at the end of 2017. George had become involved in Street Angels in Woking in February 2011 and his early retirement meant he was open to God leading him to look for something different.
George tells his story, “The church I attended was looking at setting up a social enterprise to help the homeless, underprivileged or marginalised members of the community to better integrate into society and particularly, where possible, into the mainstream workforce.
“Buying some wood on the day after I retired I came across a website for the National Community Wood Recycling Project who ran social enterprises across the UK collecting wood from builders yards and inviting people on the margins of society to work in the workshops to gain life and work experience and mentoring.
“I took this idea to one of the church leaders and he set up a steering group, now the board of trustees, and we got up and running with the Useful Wood Company. We started the workshop in September 2019 whilst maturing the rest of the business model and we finally opened officially in February 2020.”
Wood is collected from building sites, sorted and then either sold back to the public, or used in the workshops to make furniture and other items. Unusable wood is sent to be turned into fertiliser so that none of the collected timber ends up in landfill.
However just as the project got going the coronavirus sadly meant the Useful Wood Company had to be put on hold.
Asked about any outstanding stories in the first few months George shared, “We are early into the project and have had mixed success.
“One gentleman had been long term unemployed and in move on accommodation following on from time in the night shelter. His confidence was low when he started but after four months of working with the Useful Wood Company he left us to set up his own business selling Betterware and other catalogue based products door to door.
“It was amazing to see his confidence grow as he worked with the team over the four months.
“Another gentleman who was a chronic alcoholic who was showing such promise and was going from strength to strength. Just before Christmas he had a downturn and just as he was coming through that, the coronavirus hit.
“We have people with long term illness and those from halfway housing. We are able to see people progress and it is amazing how turning bits and pieces of wood into a final product gives people a source of pride and achievement.
George is hoping that the Useful Wood Company can go from strength to strength. He would love to see a fleet of vans and the opportunity to employ some of the volunteers to drive and deliver.
“At one stage, we were almost about to give up because property is so expensive that we couldn’t find a suitable place at an affordable price. Eventually we were given the old Job Centre rent and rate free as it was empty awaiting demolition. The building is very close to the centre of Woking and is well known to our clients.
“Our hope is to build the business up so that when the Job Centre site is ready for redevelopment we can then afford commercial rates.”
George is also involved as a volunteer and trustee of Woking Street Angels.
“Street Angels is great fun! The change in the town is noticeable, Woking had a reputation for fights and was not a nice place to be at 2am, whereas these days we don’t see fights and the police report crime rates have gone down substantially.
“Everyone who is out now recognises us and comes for chats, help and flip-flops. We have very much built up relationships with the night-club community.
“Street Angels was my introduction to the homeless community in Woking and this led me on to volunteer for a regular meal which got me connected with this community and helped me to understand the needs and despair. This has really helped as we set up the Useful Wood Company.”
George encourages people to always talk to those who you are aiming to help so that real needs and not perceived needs are met.
“There is a very real need for more people to volunteer in community and charity organisations.
In these times where people are furloughed and have less pressures on time George encouraged those who are re-evaluating life during this coronavirus lockdown to look at investing into the voluntary sector as this plays such a vital role in our society.
“The work I am involved in is really rewarding and to see lives changed and having fun whilst seeing this is such a privilege."
For more information on Useful Wood Company visit usefulwood.org or for Woking Street Angels visit wokingstreetangels.org.uk
George worked for Shell, the oil company, for 41 years and a health issue in 2016 led to George rethinking life and so took early retirement at the end of 2017. George had become involved in Street Angels in Woking in February 2011 and his early retirement meant he was open to God leading him to look for something different.
George tells his story, “The church I attended was looking at setting up a social enterprise to help the homeless, underprivileged or marginalised members of the community to better integrate into society and particularly, where possible, into the mainstream workforce.
“Buying some wood on the day after I retired I came across a website for the National Community Wood Recycling Project who ran social enterprises across the UK collecting wood from builders yards and inviting people on the margins of society to work in the workshops to gain life and work experience and mentoring.
“I took this idea to one of the church leaders and he set up a steering group, now the board of trustees, and we got up and running with the Useful Wood Company. We started the workshop in September 2019 whilst maturing the rest of the business model and we finally opened officially in February 2020.”
Wood is collected from building sites, sorted and then either sold back to the public, or used in the workshops to make furniture and other items. Unusable wood is sent to be turned into fertiliser so that none of the collected timber ends up in landfill.
However just as the project got going the coronavirus sadly meant the Useful Wood Company had to be put on hold.
Asked about any outstanding stories in the first few months George shared, “We are early into the project and have had mixed success.
“One gentleman had been long term unemployed and in move on accommodation following on from time in the night shelter. His confidence was low when he started but after four months of working with the Useful Wood Company he left us to set up his own business selling Betterware and other catalogue based products door to door.
“It was amazing to see his confidence grow as he worked with the team over the four months.
“Another gentleman who was a chronic alcoholic who was showing such promise and was going from strength to strength. Just before Christmas he had a downturn and just as he was coming through that, the coronavirus hit.
“We have people with long term illness and those from halfway housing. We are able to see people progress and it is amazing how turning bits and pieces of wood into a final product gives people a source of pride and achievement.
George is hoping that the Useful Wood Company can go from strength to strength. He would love to see a fleet of vans and the opportunity to employ some of the volunteers to drive and deliver.
“At one stage, we were almost about to give up because property is so expensive that we couldn’t find a suitable place at an affordable price. Eventually we were given the old Job Centre rent and rate free as it was empty awaiting demolition. The building is very close to the centre of Woking and is well known to our clients.
“Our hope is to build the business up so that when the Job Centre site is ready for redevelopment we can then afford commercial rates.”
George is also involved as a volunteer and trustee of Woking Street Angels.
“Street Angels is great fun! The change in the town is noticeable, Woking had a reputation for fights and was not a nice place to be at 2am, whereas these days we don’t see fights and the police report crime rates have gone down substantially.
“Everyone who is out now recognises us and comes for chats, help and flip-flops. We have very much built up relationships with the night-club community.
“Street Angels was my introduction to the homeless community in Woking and this led me on to volunteer for a regular meal which got me connected with this community and helped me to understand the needs and despair. This has really helped as we set up the Useful Wood Company.”
George encourages people to always talk to those who you are aiming to help so that real needs and not perceived needs are met.
“There is a very real need for more people to volunteer in community and charity organisations.
In these times where people are furloughed and have less pressures on time George encouraged those who are re-evaluating life during this coronavirus lockdown to look at investing into the voluntary sector as this plays such a vital role in our society.
“The work I am involved in is really rewarding and to see lives changed and having fun whilst seeing this is such a privilege."
For more information on Useful Wood Company visit usefulwood.org or for Woking Street Angels visit wokingstreetangels.org.uk
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Paul Rawson from Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels
Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels came out of a pilot scheme of a single-decker bus which parked up in Blackpool centre to provide help and assistance to those who were vulnerable. Seeing the need around the night-time economy Paul looked into the possibility of an initiative for the town which had a thriving and lively night-time community.
Paul attended a Jackie Pullinger event in Halifax and met with Paul Blakey which resulted in a group of Halifax Street Angels visiting Blackpool to help run a pilot scheme.
Paul says, “By June 2012 we had gathered the support of several Blackpool church communities and had a growing team of volunteers.
“We launched with a reception attended by local authority, Police, church leaders and pub and club owners.
“We started out with the basics of a street patrol team and ruck-sacks with flip-flops, bottles of water, first aid kit and sick bowls.
“Very quickly we saw other needs, especially around homelessness and addiction.”
Paul set out to raise money for a vehicle that could be used as a base and for wider work to address some of those who are homeless and have addiction issues. A minibus was purchased in 2014 with support from local business, friends and the Police and Crime Commissioner. This enabled the team to utilise the minibus as a safe place and an outreach tool.
Paul continues the story, “With a growing number of volunteers, especially those who had worked within homelessness and addiction support, we believed God was calling us to expand our work in this area.
“The CNI Network model allowed us to be adaptable and we were offered a building to use as a place for this new aspect of our work which we have called Angels Rest.
“St John’s Church Blackpool worked with us to set up a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol provision which we run on behalf of Blackpool Council and offers a safe space for genuine rough sleepers who otherwise would be out on the streets in the very worst of Blackpool’s weather conditions.”
This work is now in its fourth year and at the end of 2019 the Council offered Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels the opportunity to manage an Emergency Bed Unit (EBU) year round in the town.
A partnership with Blackpool Fulfilling Lives has led to the restoration of a former Crazy Golf Course on Blackpool’s seafront.
Paul explains, “The Princess Parade Crazy Golf Course was a popular attraction in the 1960’s and 70’s but in recent years had closed and had become neglected.
“With teams of people we support through the homeless and addiction services we gave an opportunity for them to become involved in this restoration work.
“Gaining self-worth and work experience the team have started to restore the course and it is due to re-open for the 2020 summer season.
“A social enterprise will be set up and any income generated will be invested back into continuing work within the most vulnerable of Blackpool’s community.”
The Angels Rest base is currently undergoing work to make it more fit for purpose and plans include furniture restoration to continue to up-skill those the group work with. The groups have a vision for 24 hour care and support with an aim to see more lives turned around. A Monday Night Outreach on the promenade offers food, support and love to around sixty people each week.
Paul concludes, “Blackpool may well be known for its lights, Pleasure Beach, donkeys, the tower, ballroom and sea front but beyond the bright lights and attraction is a resort that is amongst the most deprived in the country.
“Over the last 2 years partnership work between the church, Street Angels, Local Authority, drug and alcohol services, Police and other organisations is turning the tide and bringing about change that we hope will be the difference that Blackpool needs.”
Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels still continue to offer a safe place and patrols on Saturday evenings which together with the Crazy Golf course, emergency housing provision and support and welfare to the homeless and addicted communities the amazing volunteer team will be kept busy for years to come.
For more information visit bfstreetangels.org or facebook.com/bfstreetangels.
Paul attended a Jackie Pullinger event in Halifax and met with Paul Blakey which resulted in a group of Halifax Street Angels visiting Blackpool to help run a pilot scheme.
Paul says, “By June 2012 we had gathered the support of several Blackpool church communities and had a growing team of volunteers.
“We launched with a reception attended by local authority, Police, church leaders and pub and club owners.
“We started out with the basics of a street patrol team and ruck-sacks with flip-flops, bottles of water, first aid kit and sick bowls.
“Very quickly we saw other needs, especially around homelessness and addiction.”
Paul set out to raise money for a vehicle that could be used as a base and for wider work to address some of those who are homeless and have addiction issues. A minibus was purchased in 2014 with support from local business, friends and the Police and Crime Commissioner. This enabled the team to utilise the minibus as a safe place and an outreach tool.
Paul continues the story, “With a growing number of volunteers, especially those who had worked within homelessness and addiction support, we believed God was calling us to expand our work in this area.
“The CNI Network model allowed us to be adaptable and we were offered a building to use as a place for this new aspect of our work which we have called Angels Rest.
“St John’s Church Blackpool worked with us to set up a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol provision which we run on behalf of Blackpool Council and offers a safe space for genuine rough sleepers who otherwise would be out on the streets in the very worst of Blackpool’s weather conditions.”
This work is now in its fourth year and at the end of 2019 the Council offered Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels the opportunity to manage an Emergency Bed Unit (EBU) year round in the town.
A partnership with Blackpool Fulfilling Lives has led to the restoration of a former Crazy Golf Course on Blackpool’s seafront.
Paul explains, “The Princess Parade Crazy Golf Course was a popular attraction in the 1960’s and 70’s but in recent years had closed and had become neglected.
“With teams of people we support through the homeless and addiction services we gave an opportunity for them to become involved in this restoration work.
“Gaining self-worth and work experience the team have started to restore the course and it is due to re-open for the 2020 summer season.
“A social enterprise will be set up and any income generated will be invested back into continuing work within the most vulnerable of Blackpool’s community.”
The Angels Rest base is currently undergoing work to make it more fit for purpose and plans include furniture restoration to continue to up-skill those the group work with. The groups have a vision for 24 hour care and support with an aim to see more lives turned around. A Monday Night Outreach on the promenade offers food, support and love to around sixty people each week.
Paul concludes, “Blackpool may well be known for its lights, Pleasure Beach, donkeys, the tower, ballroom and sea front but beyond the bright lights and attraction is a resort that is amongst the most deprived in the country.
“Over the last 2 years partnership work between the church, Street Angels, Local Authority, drug and alcohol services, Police and other organisations is turning the tide and bringing about change that we hope will be the difference that Blackpool needs.”
Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels still continue to offer a safe place and patrols on Saturday evenings which together with the Crazy Golf course, emergency housing provision and support and welfare to the homeless and addicted communities the amazing volunteer team will be kept busy for years to come.
For more information visit bfstreetangels.org or facebook.com/bfstreetangels.
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Lu Hardy from Third Space Ministries
Lu, 31, is part of the Third Space Ministries team based in London.
Lu became a Christian in her last year of University. Shortly after this her friend arrived home from serving on the 24-7 Prayer team in Ibiza. Lu remembers, “my friend said that I loved clubbing and now I loved Jesus, so 24-7 Ibiza is an ideal mission opportunity for me.”
Lu applied to go on the 24-7 Ibiza team in 2011. She explains, “24-7 Prayer is a prayer community which seeks to meet local needs.
“The team in Ibiza offers practical help to people, often those who have overindulged in alcohol and drugs. We offer a prayer presence on the streets between 11.30pm and 4am.
“We are about building relationships with workers in the area and sharing God’s love in practical ways and seeking to journey the season with them.”
Whilst in Ibiza God broke Lu’s heart for the night-time industry. Having been a party animal at Uni she still wanted to be in that scene, ministering to people and releasing joy.
Lu says, “I realised how much God is already at work in the night-time industry. I very much wanted to be part of what God was doing, not only in Ibiza but also back home in London.”
Once back in London, Lu linked up with Third Space Ministries to look at setting up a Club Angels scheme. Club Angels was set up in Leeds in 2011 and is part of CNI Network. She heard how bar staff in Leeds had noticed a massive difference in the atmosphere within the club when Club Angels were operating. Lu got in touch with Tiger Tiger in Croydon and then branched out to the Piccadilly club. Lu found that Club Angels presented an incredible opportunity to partner with what God was doing in the clubs and clubbers.
She says, “Club Angels is helping Christians to model prayer in action.
“It could be holding a girl's hair whilst she is being sick, assisting someone to make their way home safely in a taxi or contacting parents to come and pick someone up.
“The team also supports the club staff and have seen some incredible answers to prayer over the years.”
Third Space Ministries, who oversee Club Angels in London, are celebrating their tenth Birthday in 2020. Lu explains, “The mission of Third Space Ministries is sharing God’s love within the third spaces of society.
“The third spaces are places such as coffee shops, theatres, gymns, festivals and nightclubs.
“In our tenth birthday year we want a year of celebrating all that God has done through the Third Space team including: Gym Chaplaincy in a local gym; Love All Serve All, handing out sweet treats and prayer in the Wimbledon Tennis queues; DJ Chaplaincy offering pastoral, emotional and spiritual support to Christian DJ’s; and running Festival Angels at Eastern Electrics.”
One of the areas of ministry that Lu developed and heads up is within Soho’s strip clubs. Following on from work done in Ibiza Lu started to prayer walk around Soho. After 18 months of prayer walking she was given the opportunity to offer chaplaincy in one of the strip clubs.
Lu explains, “This then led to an invitation into two other strip clubs.
“Every Thursday night the teams visit each of the three clubs in pairs. We sit and chat to the girls in the changing rooms and, with lots of laughter and fun, we aim to be a breath of fresh air that night.
“We love the people who God puts in front of us.”
Offering brownies and cookies the team sit, listen and chat with the girls and offer prayer with them before they start their shift.
Lu tells the story, “One night we were praying for one of our regular girls. Another of the girls overheard and apologised for interrupting saying that was the most beautiful prayer she had ever heard.
“This girl then asked us to pray for her knee which she said had a pain level of seven.
“After prayer the girl said her knee felt lovely and had almost no pain.”
Lu shares a story of another of the strip club girls commenting, “It is cool how God is talking to some of the girls.
“I challenged one to ask God every day when you wake up what he thinks of you.
“She came back with the most beautiful words of how God described her.”
The team has just launched a Soho Alpha Course aimed at the girls in the strip clubs.
Lu still spends her summers in Ibiza working with 24-7 Prayer and has noticed a massive change on the streets in that local area. “Just like in the UK where similar teams work, Ibiza is a much more peaceful place and nowadays less practical help is given and we get far more opportunity to pray for people.
“There is an expectation on the streets of Ibiza or in the strip clubs of Soho that prayer will work, even amongst those who would call themselves atheists.”
Lu believes that more Christians should look to work in the night-time of our communities. “These are places where God is shining the brightest.
“Jesus is at work in these places maybe he is calling you to join him!”
Lu became a Christian in her last year of University. Shortly after this her friend arrived home from serving on the 24-7 Prayer team in Ibiza. Lu remembers, “my friend said that I loved clubbing and now I loved Jesus, so 24-7 Ibiza is an ideal mission opportunity for me.”
Lu applied to go on the 24-7 Ibiza team in 2011. She explains, “24-7 Prayer is a prayer community which seeks to meet local needs.
“The team in Ibiza offers practical help to people, often those who have overindulged in alcohol and drugs. We offer a prayer presence on the streets between 11.30pm and 4am.
“We are about building relationships with workers in the area and sharing God’s love in practical ways and seeking to journey the season with them.”
Whilst in Ibiza God broke Lu’s heart for the night-time industry. Having been a party animal at Uni she still wanted to be in that scene, ministering to people and releasing joy.
Lu says, “I realised how much God is already at work in the night-time industry. I very much wanted to be part of what God was doing, not only in Ibiza but also back home in London.”
Once back in London, Lu linked up with Third Space Ministries to look at setting up a Club Angels scheme. Club Angels was set up in Leeds in 2011 and is part of CNI Network. She heard how bar staff in Leeds had noticed a massive difference in the atmosphere within the club when Club Angels were operating. Lu got in touch with Tiger Tiger in Croydon and then branched out to the Piccadilly club. Lu found that Club Angels presented an incredible opportunity to partner with what God was doing in the clubs and clubbers.
She says, “Club Angels is helping Christians to model prayer in action.
“It could be holding a girl's hair whilst she is being sick, assisting someone to make their way home safely in a taxi or contacting parents to come and pick someone up.
“The team also supports the club staff and have seen some incredible answers to prayer over the years.”
Third Space Ministries, who oversee Club Angels in London, are celebrating their tenth Birthday in 2020. Lu explains, “The mission of Third Space Ministries is sharing God’s love within the third spaces of society.
“The third spaces are places such as coffee shops, theatres, gymns, festivals and nightclubs.
“In our tenth birthday year we want a year of celebrating all that God has done through the Third Space team including: Gym Chaplaincy in a local gym; Love All Serve All, handing out sweet treats and prayer in the Wimbledon Tennis queues; DJ Chaplaincy offering pastoral, emotional and spiritual support to Christian DJ’s; and running Festival Angels at Eastern Electrics.”
One of the areas of ministry that Lu developed and heads up is within Soho’s strip clubs. Following on from work done in Ibiza Lu started to prayer walk around Soho. After 18 months of prayer walking she was given the opportunity to offer chaplaincy in one of the strip clubs.
Lu explains, “This then led to an invitation into two other strip clubs.
“Every Thursday night the teams visit each of the three clubs in pairs. We sit and chat to the girls in the changing rooms and, with lots of laughter and fun, we aim to be a breath of fresh air that night.
“We love the people who God puts in front of us.”
Offering brownies and cookies the team sit, listen and chat with the girls and offer prayer with them before they start their shift.
Lu tells the story, “One night we were praying for one of our regular girls. Another of the girls overheard and apologised for interrupting saying that was the most beautiful prayer she had ever heard.
“This girl then asked us to pray for her knee which she said had a pain level of seven.
“After prayer the girl said her knee felt lovely and had almost no pain.”
Lu shares a story of another of the strip club girls commenting, “It is cool how God is talking to some of the girls.
“I challenged one to ask God every day when you wake up what he thinks of you.
“She came back with the most beautiful words of how God described her.”
The team has just launched a Soho Alpha Course aimed at the girls in the strip clubs.
Lu still spends her summers in Ibiza working with 24-7 Prayer and has noticed a massive change on the streets in that local area. “Just like in the UK where similar teams work, Ibiza is a much more peaceful place and nowadays less practical help is given and we get far more opportunity to pray for people.
“There is an expectation on the streets of Ibiza or in the strip clubs of Soho that prayer will work, even amongst those who would call themselves atheists.”
Lu believes that more Christians should look to work in the night-time of our communities. “These are places where God is shining the brightest.
“Jesus is at work in these places maybe he is calling you to join him!”
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Conrad Andrews from Festival Angels:
Conrad is 37 and lives in Keighley and has volunteered for Halifax Street Angels and various Festival Angels over the last 11 years.
Conrad became involved in Street Angels through his brother Damian who was a very active volunteer in Halifax.
Conrad remembers, “I worked in the night club industry and saw the damage that alcohol and illegal substances could do to people on a night out so wanted to help make a change in Halifax town centre.
“When I heard about the move to Festival Angels I wanted to help out at that and since then have volunteered at Leeds Festival, Boardmasters and Mint and are planning to be at Big Church Day Out, Wildfires, Kendal Calling, Leeds and Mint this year.”
Volunteering has helped Conrad to deal with anxiety issues and to gain team work experience. He said, “I have learnt not to be judgmental and to look beyond the initial perception and listen to and understand the issues that the person is dealing with.”
Because of his experiences of Street Angels and Festival Angels Conrad applied to volunteer at Streamside Camp and Conference Centre, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Here he worked with children from the inner-cities of Philadelphia.
“Many of the children’s parents were in prison so the children often had issues such as anger and depression. My role was that of counsellor, activity leader as well as sharing about my faith.”
Conrad volunteered at the Streamside Camp and Centre over two summers.
Conrad became a Christian in May 1998 and was baptised on the 6th June that year at Lee Mount Baptist Church, Halifax. Gradually work took over life which resulted in his faith been put on a back burner.
Conrad came back to faith in 2010 through his involvement in Street Angels and through a friends invite to an event. Conrad then started to attend All Saints’ Church in Halifax and became involved in The Gathering Place, a project that runs the Food and Support Drop-In and offers support to those who are homeless and those wanting to overcome addiction. Conrad volunteered as the caretaker from 2012 to 2018.
In 2018 Conrad attended University for a course on TV Production and was invited to start a Christian Union, which he ran for a year. This involved outreach on campus from ‘text for a toastie’ to raising money for charity.
Conrad added, “Doing Festival Angels I have dealt with several issues, mainly because of over indulgence on drink or drugs.
“One year we could see a spike in drug use at the festivals and the following year the issue has moved to alcohol not drugs.
“Once you help someone you see what a difference it makes and how thankful people helped are that someone cares.”
“A simple act such as helping put up a tent or sitting chatting over a coffee in the Prayer Cafe shows that people are valued enough to spend that moment with them.”
Conrad shared that the most memorable moments for him were in Lost Property at Leeds Festival.
“One guy had a wallet handed in with £200 in cash. The joy on his face when he was reunited with the wallet and cash was great to see and the man said that it had helped restore his faith in humanity and people.”
Conrad highly recommends getting out and volunteering as it opens up a whole new world that may even take you to America!
For more information on Festival Angels visit festivalangels.org.uk or search Festival Angels on Facebook and Twitter.
Conrad became involved in Street Angels through his brother Damian who was a very active volunteer in Halifax.
Conrad remembers, “I worked in the night club industry and saw the damage that alcohol and illegal substances could do to people on a night out so wanted to help make a change in Halifax town centre.
“When I heard about the move to Festival Angels I wanted to help out at that and since then have volunteered at Leeds Festival, Boardmasters and Mint and are planning to be at Big Church Day Out, Wildfires, Kendal Calling, Leeds and Mint this year.”
Volunteering has helped Conrad to deal with anxiety issues and to gain team work experience. He said, “I have learnt not to be judgmental and to look beyond the initial perception and listen to and understand the issues that the person is dealing with.”
Because of his experiences of Street Angels and Festival Angels Conrad applied to volunteer at Streamside Camp and Conference Centre, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Here he worked with children from the inner-cities of Philadelphia.
“Many of the children’s parents were in prison so the children often had issues such as anger and depression. My role was that of counsellor, activity leader as well as sharing about my faith.”
Conrad volunteered at the Streamside Camp and Centre over two summers.
Conrad became a Christian in May 1998 and was baptised on the 6th June that year at Lee Mount Baptist Church, Halifax. Gradually work took over life which resulted in his faith been put on a back burner.
Conrad came back to faith in 2010 through his involvement in Street Angels and through a friends invite to an event. Conrad then started to attend All Saints’ Church in Halifax and became involved in The Gathering Place, a project that runs the Food and Support Drop-In and offers support to those who are homeless and those wanting to overcome addiction. Conrad volunteered as the caretaker from 2012 to 2018.
In 2018 Conrad attended University for a course on TV Production and was invited to start a Christian Union, which he ran for a year. This involved outreach on campus from ‘text for a toastie’ to raising money for charity.
Conrad added, “Doing Festival Angels I have dealt with several issues, mainly because of over indulgence on drink or drugs.
“One year we could see a spike in drug use at the festivals and the following year the issue has moved to alcohol not drugs.
“Once you help someone you see what a difference it makes and how thankful people helped are that someone cares.”
“A simple act such as helping put up a tent or sitting chatting over a coffee in the Prayer Cafe shows that people are valued enough to spend that moment with them.”
Conrad shared that the most memorable moments for him were in Lost Property at Leeds Festival.
“One guy had a wallet handed in with £200 in cash. The joy on his face when he was reunited with the wallet and cash was great to see and the man said that it had helped restore his faith in humanity and people.”
Conrad highly recommends getting out and volunteering as it opens up a whole new world that may even take you to America!
For more information on Festival Angels visit festivalangels.org.uk or search Festival Angels on Facebook and Twitter.
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Glennis Hobbs from Skipton Street Angels:
Glennis, 73, a retired Methodist preacher, has dedicated much of her life to helping others and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
As well as conducting pastoral visits to people in her village she, amongst other things, volunteers at her local library, officiates at the Hot Chocolate Club for eight to 11-year-olds each Friday at Embsay Methodist Church and was instrumental in setting up a weekly playgroup for mums and children in Hetton.
Another string to Glennis’ bow has been her involvement with Skipton Street Angels; a group organised through Churches Together to offer reassurance and help to people in Skipton each Saturday night.
The Street Angels celebrated its 10th anniversary last year and operates under the motto ‘helping people keep safe at night’.
Glennis said:”I enjoy volunteering and helping, though I am far from alone. There are many people in the district who happily give their time for all sorts of reasons and to many different organisations.
“Being a part of Skipton Street Angels has been particularly enjoyable, though I only go along perhaps once a month these days as I get older.
“We meet at St Andrew’s Church at 9pm and patrol the town until around 1am. We can cover quite a distance but really the only requirements to become part of the group are the ability to walk slowly and the ability to eat cake. Someone always brings cake,” she said.
She added: “Ideally we go out in two groups of three, with at least one man in each group, though on the last occasion I went out there were only five of us.
“Sometimes there are too few and we can’t patrol. We are always on the look out for more people to join us, from all walks of life and of all ages.
“We walk around the town, keeping an eye out for people and often pick up glasses and bottles - up to 1,500 each year – so people don’t injure themselves on them and to stop them being used as weapons.
“On occasion we stop to help someone who appears to be worse for wear. We carry a foil blanket to keep them warm if they are unwell, as well as sick bags and mop-up kits.
“We will guide people to taxis and ring for an ambulance if someone has been injured. On occasion we have had to ring for the police.
“The police in turn have told us they appreciate our presence and stop and have a word when they see us.
“Many of the young ones we see out and about also make a point of shouting hello to us when they see our high-vis jackets and we know that our presence often helps to diffuse certain situations before they get out of hand.
“One memorable occasion when we helped someone was one evening seeing a young man zig-zagging along the canal towpath.
“We approached him to have a word and he said he had no idea where he was. We feared he would end up in the canal so walked with him towards Skipton hospital where he was able to then find his way home.
“We have seen people worse for wear at the bus station after a night out and helped them get a taxi and on other occasions people have come up to us and told us we helped save their life. We are there to help anyone who may be in need.”
Details of the work Skipton Street Angels do can be found at www.skiptonchurches.org.uk/streetangels
They can also be found on Twitter at: @AngelsSkipton
As well as conducting pastoral visits to people in her village she, amongst other things, volunteers at her local library, officiates at the Hot Chocolate Club for eight to 11-year-olds each Friday at Embsay Methodist Church and was instrumental in setting up a weekly playgroup for mums and children in Hetton.
Another string to Glennis’ bow has been her involvement with Skipton Street Angels; a group organised through Churches Together to offer reassurance and help to people in Skipton each Saturday night.
The Street Angels celebrated its 10th anniversary last year and operates under the motto ‘helping people keep safe at night’.
Glennis said:”I enjoy volunteering and helping, though I am far from alone. There are many people in the district who happily give their time for all sorts of reasons and to many different organisations.
“Being a part of Skipton Street Angels has been particularly enjoyable, though I only go along perhaps once a month these days as I get older.
“We meet at St Andrew’s Church at 9pm and patrol the town until around 1am. We can cover quite a distance but really the only requirements to become part of the group are the ability to walk slowly and the ability to eat cake. Someone always brings cake,” she said.
She added: “Ideally we go out in two groups of three, with at least one man in each group, though on the last occasion I went out there were only five of us.
“Sometimes there are too few and we can’t patrol. We are always on the look out for more people to join us, from all walks of life and of all ages.
“We walk around the town, keeping an eye out for people and often pick up glasses and bottles - up to 1,500 each year – so people don’t injure themselves on them and to stop them being used as weapons.
“On occasion we stop to help someone who appears to be worse for wear. We carry a foil blanket to keep them warm if they are unwell, as well as sick bags and mop-up kits.
“We will guide people to taxis and ring for an ambulance if someone has been injured. On occasion we have had to ring for the police.
“The police in turn have told us they appreciate our presence and stop and have a word when they see us.
“Many of the young ones we see out and about also make a point of shouting hello to us when they see our high-vis jackets and we know that our presence often helps to diffuse certain situations before they get out of hand.
“One memorable occasion when we helped someone was one evening seeing a young man zig-zagging along the canal towpath.
“We approached him to have a word and he said he had no idea where he was. We feared he would end up in the canal so walked with him towards Skipton hospital where he was able to then find his way home.
“We have seen people worse for wear at the bus station after a night out and helped them get a taxi and on other occasions people have come up to us and told us we helped save their life. We are there to help anyone who may be in need.”
Details of the work Skipton Street Angels do can be found at www.skiptonchurches.org.uk/streetangels
They can also be found on Twitter at: @AngelsSkipton