Jesmond Street Pastors Newcastle upon Tyne
Annual Trustees Report 2020
2020 would have been the fourth full year of operation of Jesmond Street Pastors since its incorporation in August 2016. However, as with other charities and organisations, operational activities were interrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic
The fourth Annual General Meeting of Jesmond Street Pastors would have been held in early 2021 but was cancelled due to ongoing restrictions.
Jesmond
Jesmond is an affluent residential suburb and is split into two electoral wards just north of the centre of Newcastle Upon Tyne. The population is about 12,000. The area consists of a mixture of residential homes, in mostly Edwardian and Victorian terraces. There is a large student population mainly accommodated in multiple occupancy houses. There are many cafes and restaurants, boutiques and small supermarkets centring along St Georges Terrace, Acorn Road and Osborne Road. Jesmond Street Pastors patrol the section of Osborne Road where the nightlife is based around several chic cocktail bars. Our base of operations is Jesmond Methodist Church, located on St Georges Terrace.
Street Pastors
The Street Pastors initiative was pioneered in London in 2003 by Ascension Trust (https://www.ascensiontrust.org.uk/). A street pastor is a trained volunteer who is a Christian and is part of a local church, and who is concerned for society and their local community. They patrol in teams of men and women, often on a Friday and/or Saturday night, to care for, listen to and help people who are out on the streets. They are willing to engage with people, whatever their perspective on life and wherever they hang out, working in collaboration with other agencies and projects. See https://www.streetpastors.org/ for more information about Street Pastors.
Each local Street Pastor project is approved and set up by the Ascension Trust, which is the governing body behind Street Pastors, and run by a local coordinator with support from local churches and community groups, in partnership with the police, local council and other statutory agencies.
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Currently, over 220 towns and cities around the UK have a Street Pastors team. In addition to Street Pastors, there may be prayer pastors, who support the local team with prayer throughout the patrol period. Each team will have a management committee and trustees elected from local churches.
Since 2014, some Street Pastors have received additional training as Response Pastors, who provide support to those affected by a disaster or crisis. Response pastors can be called upon any day or night to support and assist where appropriate. A response pastor is a crucial point of contact and an additional support to the established emergency services. - - See https://www.streetpastors.org/about us/response pastors/.
Jesmond Street Pastors Operational Aspects
It was necessary to stop patrols as lockdown was introduced in March 2020. When pubs and bars reopened in summer 2020 the return to patrolling was reviewed, but it was agreed that the situation did not look safe for our volunteers.
Ascension Trust issued regular updates as the policy and criteria changed, advising that street pastors should not hand out water, flip flop, etc. This would make patrols challenging and restrictive. Street pastors were advised, where possible, to instead encourage friends to look after each other and deal with any casualties. The challenge of not touching other people and not being touched ourselves, as well as maintaining the two-metre social distance apart, supported our decision not to resume patrols.
PPE equipment was purchased, including full face masks, aprons, mouth and nose masks and hand sanitizers, ready for a return should the night-time economy be considered safe.
We started the year with nine Street pastors and finished with nine. New Street Pastors undergo standard Ascension Trust training programme for new recruits. All Street pastors have to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service check.
Patrols are normally held on Friday evenings during university term time. In the vacations, patrols are moved to Saturday evenings. In addition, patrols are undertaken on Bank Holiday Sundays. Obviously, these have not happened since the lockdown was introduced in March 2020.
Four Street Pastors in Jesmond have been trained as Response Pastors and are now ready to be deployed to major situations.
Our Coordinator keeps in touch with local councillors and the Keep Jesmond Clean team, looking at ways to reduce the volumes of glass on the streets
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and how the street pastors can contribute to public safety on the streets of Jesmond.
Even though there is a very small team in Jesmond, there is evidence to show that they have made an impact. We look forward to resuming patrols as soon as it is safe to do so.
Management Committee
During the year, the Management Committee met twice in person before the lockdown and since March they have met as necessary on Zoom and kept up to date via email.
Their role has been to ensure that the project continues to operate smoothly. They have checked that the project conforms to the new General Data Protection Regulations. In addition, they monitor income and expenditure and plan ways to raise funds. They also check that the project conforms to Charities Commission regulations and follows Ascension Trust guidelines.
Trustees and Management Committee
There have been no changes to the Management Committee in 2020.
The list of Trustees is as follows.
Chair and Coordinator : Mr Chris Lincoln, Jesmond Methodist Church. Secretary : Mrs Margaret Graham, Jesmond Methodist Church. Treasurer : Mrs Janet Anderson, Jesmond Methodist Church. Prayer Coordinator : Dr Laura Graham, Heaton Methodist Church. Mrs Jean Degenhardt, Jesmond United Reformed Church. Rev Canon Brian Hurst, St George’s Jesmond. Mr John Waddell, Church of the Holy Name, Jesmond. Rev Alison Wilkinson, Jesmond Methodist Church.
We thank our officers and Trustees for their support and prayers during 2020.
It is hoped through time that there will be a representative from all Jesmond Churches on the Management Committee.
Mr Chris Lincoln, as Chair of Trustees, spends much of his time liaising with the police and local councillors as well as speaking to the Churches in Jesmond to encourage more volunteers to come forward as Street Pastors or Prayer Pastors.
Financial Report
Jesmond Street Pastors is a small project and for its finances relies very much on donations from the local churches, the community and the general public.
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Expenditure includes essential items such as a mobile phone and insurance for the Street Pastors. The License fee to Ascension Trust is obligatory.
Our audited accounts are available separately. We are grateful to our Auditor, Mr David Stabler, for his help and advice.
A summary of our accounts for 2020 follows:
| INCOME | EXPENDITURE | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | £400.00 | Mobile phone | £186.15 |
| Insurance | £221.52 | ||
| Ascension Trust | |||
| License fee | £337.50 | ||
| Total Income: | £400.00 | Total Expenditure: | £745.17 |
| BALANCE SHEET | |
|---|---|
| Balance at 01/01/2020 | £1,207.20 |
| Income | £400.00 |
| Total Income | £1,607.20 |
| Less Expenditure | £745.17 |
| Closing Balance at 31/12/2020 | £862.03 |
In conclusion, we pray that Jesmond Street Pastors will continue to support the night-time economy in Jesmond, and care for, listen to and help people who are out on the streets.
Margaret E Graham Secretary Jesmond Street Pastors September 2021
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