Article from Todays Derby Evening Telegraph

Hi the Derby evening Telegraph have pblished an article on us here below. Just for clariffication we didn't spend £21,500 on a car we spent £3,500 slight differrence. We recieved a grant of £21,500 from the Criminal Justice board to recruit equip and train 15 Street Pastors and launch the Browning Circle project. The photo also isn't of Derby's Street Pastors.

Pastors: We bring peace to streets of the city

Street pastors

DERBY'S street pastors say they have stopped more than 850 revellers getting involved in drunken brawls in their first year of operation.

The Christian volunteers, who patrol the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights, say they have also picked up 4,688 pieces of glass and handed out 593 bottles of water.

The pastors say they try to calm situations which could lead to violence.

Alasdair Kay, who co-ordinates the scheme, said volunteers kept a record of "agitated" people to whom they spoke and, of 903, only 53 had gone on to get involved in a fight or arrested.

He said: "One of the things we do is let people rant and rave at us, as we are not going to react. We let them get it off their chest.

"What you find is that when people are drinking, something else misinforms their anger."

He said disagreements usually focused on race, girlfriends or family problems.

Mr Kay said: "They are the three main issues. Racial tensions are still a problem in the city, they haven't gone away. We get on the side of the person being targeted and tell people that they cannot say things like that.

"That is a lot of what we do. We also do simple things like tell them that there are CCTV cameras and police just around the corner and do they really want to spend a night in a cell? No-one really wants to do that."

Mr Kay said the street pastors were set up after two tragic incidents – the death of 17-year-old Shaun Dykes, who jumped from Westfield car park amid cruel heckling from onlookers, and the shooting of Kadeem Blackwood – in 2008.

He said: "After these incidents, I thought, 'we have to do something to make this city safer'."

The pastors were formed in February 2009, but have only kept figures since April that year. Pastors, who are trained in first aid, have treated 239 injuries – 111 of which needed hospital treatment.

The 50 volunteers meet for a briefing and prayer at 9.30pm and then patrol the city centre from 10pm until 4am.

Over the last 12 months, the street pastors have volunteered for 3,477 hours.

During this time, they had conversations with 18,347 people.

The pastors, who are supported by 25 churches in Derby, have also handed out 12,050 "spikeys" – which can be inserted into the top of a bottle to prevent people's drinks being spiked with drugs.

In addition, they have given out 1,405 pairs of flip flops to women who take their high heel shoes off as they walk home, to stop them injuring their feet on glass.

Following their success, the pastors were asked by police to extend their services to gang-plagued areas of Derby.

The group was given £21,500 to buy a car so that it could work in the Browning Circle area of Derby's Austin estate.

It was hoped that by providing a presence on Friday and Saturday evenings, the pastors could reduce tension and aggression and form relationships with young people and others in the community.

The project also aimed to develop a mentoring programme to offer non-violent activities as an alternative to anti-social behaviour, crime and gang membership.

Mr Kay said that when he helped establish the group, he had no idea it would be so successful.

He said: "I felt like I was up against a wall of scepticism – never did I expect it to have such an impact."

Mr Kay has since gone on to help set up similar schemes across the country, including one in Nottingham.

To find out more, visit www.streetpastors.co.uk