Comment by Harborough churches: Street Pastors offer a sympathetic ear and support on the streets of our town - as well as flip-flops for sore feet

Viewpoint by Liz Howe, chair of Market Harborough Street Pastors

Market Harborough Street Pastors have been in operation for over 10 years serving the night-time economy of our much-loved town. The motto of our national governing body (Ascension Trust) is caring, listening, helping.

We are all volunteers from local churches and are managed by a local board. A hard working administrator sorts out the rotas, reports, and returns that need to be sent to head office.

Since Covid-19, we have been operating on Friday or Saturday and Sunday afternoons, concentrating on the park areas. However, pre-virus, our patrols took place on alternate Friday and

Saturday evenings and some Bank Holiday Sundays.

The Friday shift started at around 7pm, to meet youngsters in town and the Saturday patrol started and finished later (often in the early hours) to accommodate the end of people's social time.

We have a break half way through for a much-needed cup of tea and cake provided by our prayer support team at The Bower House which is our base.

We are fortunate to have this facility for spiritual refreshment, to dry off or warm up and chat over what we have encountered. Some of what we see and hear puts emotional pressure on each of us.

It is so good that we are able to pray before we go, during the break and after, as we write up our report of the evening's events. All we see and hear is completely confidential.

Even though we wear dark blue uniforms, including the characteristic baseball cap, and are linked to the town’s CCTV, we are not the police. We have good relationships with them, but we are serving Market Harborough in different ways. We do not preach our faith but hopefully show it in our actions.

We just love listening to people and over the years it has been a privilege to build relationships with folk of all ages who we often meet – finding out about their families or work, or talking about the state of the nation (being careful not to make any political comment).

We help in various ways. We give flip-flops for sore feet, a small amount of first aid, and water to help the unwell. We help with finding lost keys, charging mobiles and offering aid when people vomit. Many people suffer from too much alcohol which is not their fault. We are non-judgemental.

Some are not used to drinking and are egged on by “friends”, others have forgotten to eat before going out and some have been given drinks stronger than expected. And we often lend a listening ear to people who just need to talk. If possible we suggest where they might get further advice. We are not paid, and training and uniforms are expensive, but we have been funded from Market Harborough and the Bowdens Charities, local churches, Churches Together in Harborough, Little Bowden WI, Harborough District Council and “pennypots” in pubs, as well as through personal regular giving.

It continues to be a joy and privilege to serve Our Lord in a town I love – even coming home as the Dawn Chorus starts lifts my heart!

Liz Howe is the chair of Market Harborough Street Pastors, which are affiliated to Churches Together in Harborough.