Street Pastors Cut Crime in Fair Oak
| Published: 28th June 2008 13:30 |
A "guardian angels" scheme, which runs on the streets of Fair Oak on Friday nights, has led to a huge drop in violent crime, theft and criminal damage.
The Street Pastors have been working on the streets of Fair Oak on Friday nights for several months now, and have made the local streets much safer, according to Hampshire Police (who have also been tackling local crime hotspots). They act as guardian angels / chaperones to local people, talking to them and guiding them home from youth centres, clubs and pubs.
Street Pastors first hit the Hampshire streets in Portsmouth, and as the scheme has been so successful it may even spread to Southampton in due course. It began as an inter-denominational church initiative to tackle specific urban problems such as rowdy and intimidating behaviour, theft and violence, all of which make local people feel unsafe on the street (or in their homes) at night.
The scheme is led by St Thomas' Church in Fair Oak and there are currently 19 Street Pastors in the area, who have been intensively trained in mentoring and counselling skills, social awareness and drugs awareness.
For more information on Street Pastors, please visit http://www.streetpastors.co.uk
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