After last week's news that Midsomer Norton Town Council is to apply for Purple Flag status in a move to improve and promote the town centre at night, thirty-five churches from the surrounding area have agreed to launch the 'Street Pastors' scheme, believed to be the largest initiative ever carried out by churches in the area. Street Pastors will be a trained team of volunteers who will be on the streets of Midsomer Norton on Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. They are people from the Christian community, who are not there to preach, but to provide a caring role within the community.

The Street Pastors will walk along Midsomer

Norton High Street and help people who are

distressed, in difficulty or frightened and will engage with people in order to care, listen, talk and offer practical help. In many instances, this may involve simple actions, such as sweeping up a broken bottle on the pavement or handing out a pair of flip-flops to someone who is walking barefoot. The initiative says that these simple acts of caring will be proof of the church's work of care within the community, in turn, making the town a safer place for all and ensuring that everyone leaves the town safely and happily at the end of the evening. Street Pastors are volunteers, in fact, each volunteer needs to pay £75 to cover expensive training costs. If you are interested in joining, you will need to be a church member and be over eighteen years of age, with no upper age limit as long as you are fit! Volunteers are expected to carry out a minimum of one night per month. This initiative is currently running nationwide, with 11,000 Street Pastors offering help in 280 different areas. Speaking about the arrival of Street Pastors in the town, Julian Sheppard, well-known for his programme 'Faith Time' on Somer Valley FM and the new Midsomer Norton Street Pastors Co-ordinator, says: "In common with other towns across the country, anti-social behaviour throws up challenges, both to the church and to society as a whole. As a group of Christian churches, we want to engage with the community, in partnership with other agencies, to help bring about change. The volunteer Pastors will be going through an extensive training programme before they take to the streets. We hope to become a familiar sight on the streets of Midsomer Norton on Friday and Saturday nights by late October this year. Volunteer Street Pastors will bring God's love into the High Street at an unusual time and place." Mayor of Midsomer Norton, Paul Myers, commented on the initiative this week. He said: "I personally believe that by offering support to those who need help for whatever reason, the Street Pastors initiative will very much complement all the local initiatives designed to make and encourage our community to spend leisure time in Midsomer Norton town centre." The initiative also has the support of the local police. Inspector Shirley Eden, Radstock and Surrounding District Senior Officer, said: "Street Pastors are a great initiative and will work in conjunction with the Street Marshals and police to tackle night-time economy issues in the area. While the Street Marshals and police primarily gather intelligence, prevent and detect crime and disorder, the Pastors have a completely different role in that they help people by remaining with them, escorting them to transport or arranging medical attention. It is all part of the continually developing Midsomer Norton

Community Alcohol Partnership." The Midsomer Norton Street Pastors' launch meeting will be held this Saturday, 22nd June at 7.30 p.m. in the Town Hall, Midsomer Norton. If residents would like to find out more, they are encouraged to attend. If you would like to be trained as a Street Pastor, contact Co-ordinator, Julian Sheppard, on: 01761 232747 or email: street

[email protected]">[email protected] Training for the scheme, which will need at least thirty volunteers, will start in early September and lasts for about fifty hours, spread over several evenings and some Saturdays at Midsomer Norton Town Hall. The training programme covers subjects such as drug awareness, the police, counselling, mental health, first aid, mentoring, youth culture, alcohol and solvent awareness, plus Street Pastor roles and responsibilities. Successful completion of the training leads to a BTEC qualification. The Street Pastor brand name is owned by an inter-denominational organisation called 'The Ascension Trust' and was created to empower individuals to work together within their local community to help society and improve the quality of life for the disadvantaged or vulnerable.