Diocese of Portsmouth

Street Pastors in the diocese

Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and help.

Street Pastors has been in Portsmouth since 2007. There are teams in the city centre every Friday and Saturday night and around Albert Road one weekend a month. Each team has on average, 4 Street Pastors who patrol form 10:30 pm to 3:30 am. Each Street Pastor receives comprehensive training before they go out with a team. This means the streets of Portsmouth have 200 hours every month of trained volunteers, making a real difference.

Since 2007, Street Pastors in Portsmouth have made over 36,000 contacts with people on the streets, they have picked up over 25,000 bottles and handed out over 1800 pairs of flip-flops!

Training

Training to become a Street Pastor is held a couple of times a year. Click here for more details – including upcoming training dates – and to book.

Typically Street Pastor training covers the following:

  • Roles and Responsibilities: who we are, what we do, how we do it.
  • Safety on the Streets: taught by an experienced paramedic, this covers drug and alcohol awareness, recognising signs of aggression, keeping you and your team safe.
  • Safeguarding: understanding what safeguarding is and how to safeguard those you meet on the streets and also yourself.
  • Mental Health: looking at issues around mental health and behaviour and also suicide awareness.
  • Exploitation in our Communities: who might be exploited, what to look for, how to deal with someone who is or has been exploited in any way, where to signpost.
  • Youth Culture: help to understand who most of the people we encounter in the night time economy are. What does it mean to be a young person today.
  • Listening skills: what is active listening, how do we do this on the streets.
  • As the Father Sent Us: why we, as Christians are called to be a caring and non-judgemental presence on the streets. Understanding the Biblical basis for the work of Street Pastors.
  • Street Craft: a term used by the police, learning how to keep ears and eyes open and alert to what is happening around us.

If you would like to be a part of Portsmouth Street Pastors, or would like to find out more

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GET IN TOUCH
E: portsmouth@streetpastors.org.uk