Street pastors idea plan for Norwich
 MARCH 2006: A project to get Christian street pastors patrolling the pavements in Norwich is being investigated at a meeting on March 14, 2006.
A meeting for city church leaders, organised by Transforming Norwich, is to hear from the project founder Rev Les Isaac and then look into bringing the idea onto the streets of Norwich.
Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue.
It was pioneered in London in January 2003 by Rev Les Isaac, Director of the Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable results, including drops in crime in areas where teams have been working.
Projects are already working in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester and Southend among other places.
Each city project is set up by Ascension Trust and run by a local coordinator with support from local churches and community groups, in partnership with Police, local council and other statutory agencies.
Transforming Norwich chairman John Betts, has organized the invite-only meeting at the OPEN Youth venue on Bank Plain on March 14 from 11-2pm.
He said: “The Street Pastor scheme is one of the most exciting things that the church has been doing over the last few years to contribute to community life. Trained Christians go onto the streets and help make sure that people get home safely. It is the Gospel in action, Good Samaritans helping people in need.
“The scheme has had a very good press and the police have attributed a decrease in certain areas of crime to their activities,” said John.
Scotland Yard has backing the scheme and sent out a nationwide memo endorsing the Street Pastors.
Detective Chief Inspector Harry Doyle of Scotland Yard, said: “The Pastors can help and give advice to people who may be taking illegal drugs, for example, because they are not police officers. And by careful sharing of certain intelligence we can deploy the Pastors to local hotspots, and have given them access to officers who are on duty 24 hours a day. In certain circumstances they can request support if the situation requires it.”
| 