The Street Pastors project was launched in Stafford on September 28th.

Run by local churches, in conjunction with the Police and the Borough Council, street pastors are members of local churches who have choesn to respond positively to the night time problems of a town. They go onto the streets between 10pm and 4am to listen to and care for people and, where appropriate, direct people towards help.

There are nearly 100 such projects across the county. All operate ounder the auspices of the Ascension Trust. The Trust has drawn up all the guidelines and protocols working with the Home Office and Police.

In many places, the scheme has been shown to be of direct and measurable benefit to town centres. Locally Wolverhampton already benefits from having Street Pastors.

Jeremy attended the launch and said afterwards: "I welcome this project and am delighted that so many people in Stafford have already volunteered to start the training to become a Street Pastor."

Anyone over the age of 18 who is a member of local church and who is endorsed by the leadership of that church can become a Street Pastor after completing a twelve session training course.

In Stafford, the project will begin the training of Street Pastors very shortly and the first patrols should be on the streets within months.

Local contact details: John Marshall, Church Lane Evangelical Church, Stafford pastor.churchlane@btinternet.com