Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue. It was pioneered in London in January 2003 by Rev Les Isaac, Director of the Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable results, including drops in crime in areas where teams have been working.

Each city project is set up by Ascension Trust and run by a local coordinator with support from Ascension Trust and local churches and community groups, in partnership with Police, Council and other statutory agenices. Currently 22 of the 31 London Boroughs have their own Street Pastors project and by the end of the year it is predicted that the number will have risen to 25.

In Croydon the initiative was launched at a service held at the Salvation Army Citadel in July 2007. Our first volunteers undertook 3 months of training  and visited other town centres to see how Street Pastors (SP) works in practice. In December 2007 they were officially welcomed onto the streets of the town centre by representatives from the Council and the Police.

Watch the video below:

 We are always on the lookout for fresh volunteers, especially as we are looking to extend our work beyond the town Centre into Thornton Heath and other parts of the Borough. If you are a regular attender at a Croydon church and would like to know more, contact us (below). You could also come out and join us on Friday evening to see what being a Croydon Street Pastor is all about.