Lollipop pastors have trouble licked (From Oxford Mail)

Lollipop pastors have trouble licked

8:04pm Sunday 11th October 2009 in News By Emily Allen

CHRISTIANS took the church – and lollipops – to the streets of Wantage for the first time at the weekend to spread calm among late-night revellers.

A team of specially-trained Street Pastors from 10 local churches swapped their Friday night in for an evening patrolling the town’s potential trouble spots, lending a hand and an ear to anyone who wanted to talk.

It was the first time the crime-cutting initiative had been used anywhere in the Thames Valley – and the ‘guardian angels’ were warmly received out on the town.

Wearing dark blue coats emblazoned with ‘Street Pastor’, husband and wife team Stuart and Angela Pettifer, of Vale Avenue, Grove, kept watch over Market Square, patrolling past the King’s Arms, Blue Boar and the Swan.

Arming themselves with lollipops to dish out to drunks and flip-flops for women struggling to walk in high heels, the pair remembered the evenings they had spent drinking in Wantage before becoming Christians.

Mrs Pettifer, 49, said: “We’ve been in that situation going round the pubs getting sozzled and I’ve walked home needing flip-flops. You go out and cover up all your hurts by drinking and sometimes you just need someone to talk to.”

Four members of the 24-strong team will patrol each week between 10pm on Friday and 2am on Saturday.

They hope to extend the scheme to Grove in January.

Howard Hill, 55, of Haywards Close, Wantage, said: “I think the church needs to be where it’s most needed, and late at night on the streets is where you will find vulnerable people.

“This is not a bad town, but if we can make it a bit safer then it’s worth it. I think we will be a calming influence.”

Another Street Pastor, mother-of-four Rosie Horswell, 56, of Donnington Place, Wantage, said: “If my daughter was ever stuck I would be grateful to know there was someone to look after her.”

Reveller Joe Braham, 18, of The Maples, Grove, said: “I think it’s wicked. I can’t believe they give up their spare time to do this.”

Aarron Swain, 25, was walking home to Springfield Road when he stopped to chat to the Street Pastors. He said: “It’s a very good idea, it brings community spirit together.”

Matthew Sheasby, 25, of Denchworth Road, Wantage, was out drinking with friends. He said: “They put a fun spin on things. They are a little easier to speak to than the police.”

Neil Townsend, chairman of the Pastors management committee, said: “As the night wore on, there was slightly less general chatting and more time was spent listening to people who needed to talk as their night hadn’t perhaps gone as they had planned.”

Retired teacher Betty Collins, of Palmers, Wantage, is the oldest Street Pastor at 78.

She joked: “I’ve always wanted to be a woman of the streets and now I am.”

eallen@oxford.co.uk