Trustees’ Report Coventry Street Pastors, April 2024- March 2025
This is the trustees’ report for Coventry Street Pastors, and the unaudited financial statement, 31st March 2025
The Trustees and Management Committee. –
This year we continued our stated aim of patrolling Friday and Saturday evenings 10pm to 3am.
The trustees and management committee of Coventry Street Pastors changed with the resignation of Pastor Asif Gill, but continued with the Rev Dexter Bracey as chair and Bishop’s representative. The remaining trustees are Steve Elton, Janet Powell, Jain Galliford and Susan Jessop . The liaison officer from the police was CPSO Will Ellis. Liam Nagle remained as Coventry Council liaison. Isabel McIntyre remains as coordinator and covers treasurer, overseen by the committee. However, Isabel McIntyre tended her resignation, after 10 years and said she would stand down at the AGM in April 2025. Processes have been put in place to replace her.
2024-2025 has been a difficult year for the nighttime economy in Coventry. With the demolition of large parts of the city beginning in April 2025, many venues have had to find new premises and move, which has affected the footfall in the city. This, in turn, has affected the patrols of the street pastors, moving the routes further eastward and making large areas inaccessible, however we have continued to be out on the streets, caring, listening and helping. The rebuilding will take approximately 10 years, and we have accepted that we will have to be flexible.
In December, the committee were asked by the police if they could create a team to patrol on a Friday afternoon in a designated area comprising of the local college, the bus station and the main areas that the school children use to change buses. There were fears of grooming, county lines and bullying. The committee agreed and we are in the process of setting this up.
The committee and trustees are committed to ensuring that the initiative continue to meet the needs of the city in the future, and to change activities as required.
Street Pastor Numbers, Training and Commissioning.
During the last year we have trained and commissioned 8 new street pastors, and they have been assigned teams.
Patrols
Patrols have continued to take place, with 4 pastors in each team. As stated there has been significant disruption to the city centre, but we have continued to be of use, particularly with regard to mental health issues, and have continued to liaise with police and the council crisis team where necessary.
Registered Charity Number 1169218.
Examples of reports:
2 young lads, looked to be between 14 - 17 seen by the cathedral, said they were looking for the missing autistic girl. We saw them again much later on Spon street and we expressed concern that they were out so late. One lad said his mum was picking him up in about an hour, the other lad (very pale complexion, white/grey tracksuit hoodie combination) avoided eye contact with us, didn't engage and went in a different direction to his friend. We watched him engage firstly with one male street person, then go around the corner to what used to be h2o where he joined 2 other males from the streets and they were joined by the first male. It wasn't possible to determine whether he was buying or delivering drugs but from our vantage point it looked like a deal was occurring. One of the males had a dog with him. We radioed for the cctv Oscar base to keep an eye on the young-looking lad and expressed our concerns. Oscar base informed the street patrol. We spoke with the street patrol about our concerns and 2 of them went to talk to the group and see the young lad. We prayed for both lads, that they would have the insight and sense not to get involved with the drug scene. We also shared the photo of the missing autistic girl with the street patrol so that they could look out for her too.
Adam had been with a couple where the woman was very drunk and nauseous. Police told him to leave them alone to go home. He claimed that he'd been accused of stalking them and was very upset about it. Very keen to work in supporting mental health - is a care home chef at present. Long chat with him - he was grateful that we had stopped to speak to him. Said that he felt that we had saved a life.
Started patrol and came across a male mark 27 that seemed drunk, he was being spoken to by some people we asked if he was ok and found he had come off his e-scooter and banged his head. An ambulance had been called as they did not know if he had been unconscious. We assisted with first aid but no visible injuries. He fell on the floor once again and appeared to be unconscious. We got him back round and ran the ambulance again to escalate the case. We waited with him and asked for police assistance has he was attempting to walk off and wasn’t listening. Police and ambulance arrived at the same time and we handed him over to the paramedics.
Spon street we noticed a large group of travellers walking towards us with the couple of males seeming on edge when they noticed us. We walked on and got to the corner when we heard a call over the radio that the had created a fight outside shenanigans. We waited out the way until things calmed down and the offenders had fled the scene. We established that there were multiple injuries and ourselves and Arley medical attended the scene to help. Police (approx 15) also attended and got statements but unable to catch the offenders. We left the injured parties in the hands of Arley.
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Funding
We continue to be funded by the police and council under various names, this year there have been no issues covering costs but we will continue to look for new funding streams to ensure stabilisation of income in the future.
Conclusion
Registered Charity Number 1169218.
This year has presented no particular issues for the initiative. We have been of help to many people, have spoken at many school events and attended the Pubwatch meetings, and had input into the nighttime strategy team of the council. As we move forward towards celebrating a full 10 years of patrolling, with a new coordinator and trustees joining later in 2025, we are looking at reassessing where our energies are spent, and how we can be of help. We are looking forward to our new patrols in the afternoon, engaging with younger people, and helping them to be safe.
We continue to believe our mission is to be part of the city, to look after and help those we meet and to be Jesus’ hands and feet on the street.
Fr. Dexter Bracy
Chair 2024/2025
Registered Charity Number 1169218.
Registered Charity Number 1169218.
Net Worth Report
Account: All Accounts
Net Worth at: 31/03/2025 (in GB Pounds)
| Bank | ||
|---|---|---|
| AT CURRENT ACCOUNT | 0.00 | |
| Cash donations banked | 0.00 | |
| CSPI CURRENT ACCOUNT | 13,671.99 | |
| PETTY CASH | 0.00 | |
| Royal Bank Of Scotland | 4,277.02 | |
| Bank Total | 17,949.01 | |
| Investments | ||
| Investment Total | 0.00 | |
| Assets | ||
| Asset Total | 0.00 | |
| Credit Card | ||
| Credit Card Total | 0.00 | |
| Liabilities | ||
| AT FEE | 0.00 | |
| SALARY COORDINATOR | 0.00 | |
| Liability Total | 0.00 | |
| Overall Total: 17,949.01 |
Notes on income/expenditure.
As you will see our account figures have increased from last year. This is due to us not purchasing uniforms etc, du to a surfeit from retiring street pastors.
It was decided not to reduce our funding request, as this money may be needed should funding be cut in the future.
Income and Expense by Category
From 06/04/2024 to 05/04/2025 (in GB Pounds)
| Category (Income) | ||
| Donations1 | 2,888.35 | |
| Income:Interest Received | 252.85 | |
| Stronger Communities Grant | 10,530.00 | |
| Total Income | 13,671.20 | |
| Category (Expense) | ||
| Ascension Trust Fee | -250.00 | |
| AT Licence Fee | -828.00 | |
| Bus. Expenses | -179.88 | |
| Bus. Expenses:DBS | -385.06 | |
| Bus. Expenses:Office | -35.98 | |
| Bus. Expenses:Other Expenses | -95.00 | |
| CategoryTotal: | -695.92 | |
| Employment:Salary& Wages | -8,487.60 | |
| id cards | -40.00 | |
| Insurance:Trustees Insurance | -114.00 | |
| patrol supplies | -400.61 | |
| Taxes:Income Tax | -512.40 | |
| Telephone | -389.12 | |
| Training | -100.00 | |
| Uniforms | -513.50 | |
| Total Expenses | -12,331.15 | |
| Total: 1,340.05 |