Rallying call to save Royal British Legion clubs
- Today's leader
Street pastors plan after River Severn deaths
Tuesday 21st December 2010, 8:54AM GMT.
Plans to bring street pastors to Shrewsbury to help to protect people are being drawn up a week after a coroner expressed concerns about the number of revellers dying after falling into the River Severn on a night out.
The plans are being drawn up by West Mercia Police working with a number of county churches.
Talks on the proposals have already been held between the Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury, the Right Reverend Mark Ryland, the police and representatives of door supervisors at bars in the town.
The pastors will operate in the vicinity of the River Severn and be trained to provide care and guidance to anyone considered vulnerable.
The move follows fears about the number of deaths in the river.
In March a Facebook campaign was set up calling for the river to be fenced off in Shrewsbury to prevent further deaths.
The page was started following the death of Hayden Reynolds-Evans, a Shrewsbury teenager, whose body was discovered in the Severn after a night out in February.
And last week a Shropshire coroner highlighted the dangers of the River Severn for the third time in a year after hearing how a Shrewsbury man drowned after a night out.
At an inquest at Shrewsbury Magistrates Court, Coroner for Mid and North Shropshire, Mr John Ellery, recorded a verdict of accidental death for Joshua Wreford whose body was found in the river two days after a night out on August 11.
The pastors will be chosen from multi-denominational faiths in the area.
West Mercia Police licensing officer Tony Mantle, said: “We will be seeking 12 volunteers to become street pastors.
“They will operate within the loop of the River Severn and will be trained to provide pastoral care to anyone considered vulnerable, especially during the night-time economy.”
He said the suggestion was made following the recent river deaths.
Similar schemes have been introduced in various parts of the country, including Wolverhampton, Worcester, Chester and Wrexham.
Mr Mantle added: “We have been investigating the possible introduction of street pastors for some time now.
“The recent tragedies in the River Severn, some of which have been alcohol-related, have given us the incentive to take matters forward.”
By Emma Kasprzak
Sponsored Links
Most Commented
- Shropshire Council will face £8m redundancy bill
- Clampdown on Shrewsbury chuggers
- Bishop's gay marriage views do nothing to support bible teachings
- Letter: Alcohol price plans annoy me
- Letter: No sense in overseas job adverts
- Letter: Angered by close encounter of the furred kind
- The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff doesn't raise a smile
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
I think that being preached at by someone telling me about their imaginary friend might be one of the few things that would tempt me to walk a little closer to the river just to avoid them…
Report abuse
Ignorance is not a great quality Peter.
Street Pastors are not there to preach, they are there to provide care and help whether thats pastoral care for those in distress, or to provide practical care by helping people stay safe while out.
Street pastors has had an extremely warm reception in many towns and cities including wrexham, and those places have seen a dramatic reduction in disturbances while street pastors are out patrol.
The intension is not to preach with words, but instead to bring Christ like qualities into our towns and cities, without any prejudice, or expecting anything in return.
Essentially putting our words into action.
Report abuse
James,
If there is a need for people to provide care to avoid people falling in the river, or to help people in distress, why do we need to drag spurious religious belief into it?
Why do you assume that qualities such as good will and altruism are ‘Christ-like’ rather than just ‘human-like’? Is that not both ignorant and arrogant?
Can you absolutely guarantee that all of these street pastors will be able to resist bringing up the topic of religious belief when offering help and succour to those in distress, or perhaps so drunk that they might fall into the river? Somehow I doubt it.
Report abuse
Christ like qualitys?
From the report
“The pastors will be chosen from multi-denominational faiths in the area”
I am ssuming some will be from the non christian type religieons too?
Report abuse
” Christ-like qualities”??????
Given that he is a figment of someone’s imagination, one can only assume that these people will be bringing imaginary qualities into our towns. Not a lot of help really James.
I can foresee a few of these pastors ending up in the river themselves. Drunks show no respect for the police, so these roaming disciples would appear to be an ideal target.
A recipe for disaster, a typical council made policy.
Report abuse
James said:
The intension is not to preach with words
Thank goodness for that!
Report abuse
New one here. It’s a shame that people would attack others based on the fact that they believe in God. Weather it be a farmer, blacksmith, butcher or preacher everyone should be encouraged to help people out in need (by the river). I find it hard to believe that Peter really thinks God is ‘imaginary friend’. Peter would not be so worked up if it was group of Tooth Fairy followers out there at night helping people. People like to down play God and people doing good in His name because they themselves don’t want to admit they need help becomes a better person.
Report abuse
Jason, can you re-post your comment in a language us lesser mortals may be able to understand.
Report abuse
Street Pastors is about Practical Care NOT Preaching at people…
“Street Pastors is about Christians rolling up their sleeves and getting involved in practically responding to the problems of crime and safety. They are like beacons on our streets and I want to see them shining brightly in every constituency” – David Burrowes MP
Report abuse
David Burrowes is chairman of the Conservative Christian Fellowship – so he would say that, wouldn’t he?
He’s also a member of a party whose backbenchers were to be heard braying ‘More more’ as Chancellor George Osborne announced cut after cut which would affect the most vulnerable in society – he may even be amongst those who were doing the braying – if not, he certainly hasn’t condemned it, nor voted against any of the cuts.
So, hardly putting his Christian beliefs into action there then is he? Would you have us respect such double standards?
Perhaps you need to read a little more in your favourite book about the behaviour of the Scribes and the Pharisees…
Report abuse
I’d rather the towpath was properly lit.
Report abuse
Well Hopefully they will do that too :)
Report abuse
This will leave them open to abuse, as any drunk people are not going to react well to being stopped by a preacher. Whilst their intentions will be good there are some people in Shrewsbury that aren’t very nice.
Report abuse
What an absolutely lazy solution.
I was under the impression that since it was the police that came up with “go to idea” of blaming the pubs and clubs, that they would be providing their insightful knowledge about ‘water bad, land good’. Instead, they’re recruiting volunteers so the council doesn’t have to fork out money on proper solutions to stop these unnecessary deaths from occurring.
Report abuse
You mean like a big fence that goes around the river?
No back on this ridiculous idea are we?
Report abuse
There are a lot of not very nice people in the church too.
Vulnerable people need protection from people who are only prepared to offer help if they are wearing a badge of nobility and for the expected special treatment they anticipate they will receive in recognition of this noble behaviour in the next world.
I hope these pastors will be subject to CRB checks, trained as lifeguards,experienced in psychology and mental health conditions and be a site more intelligent than most of the people involved in the church that I have encountered.
On the other hand their halos may provide sufficient light to guide those who have strayed I suppose! ;)
Report abuse
This reminds of the story told by the great Emo Phillips:
“Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!”
He said, “Nobody loves me.”
I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”
He said, “Yes.”
I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?”
He said, “A Christian.”
I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?”
He said, “Protestant.”
I said, “Me, too! What franchise?”
He said, “Baptist.”
I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Baptist.”
I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.”
I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.”
I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”……………
I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.
Report abuse
I can’t imagine anything scarier than being jumped on by a pastor at 3 in the morning when walking down a dark lane by a river, i’d sprint into the water not away from it.
Report abuse
OK Pete, what are you doing to help the situation? Are you prepared to stay up all night in the cold to potentially help these people, or are you taking cheap shots from the comfort of you fireside?
Report abuse
I think it is interesting (more like a shame) that you have people whether it be farmers, blacksmiths, or preachers out and about taking time to care for people and the 1st thing you get is someone attacking the idea of God. I wish people would take that negative energy and put it making themselves a better person. I wonder why people have such a problem with the idea of a loving God that cares for you. Not only that, but what is so troubling about someone who is not related to you taking their own time making sure you are okay. “Oh no their going to talk about a God that loves me. I better run”. The real problem is, people like to do whatever they want with no accountability. They want their bad behavior without feeling guilty. That is why people have a problem with ‘Imaginary friends’ if Peter really though God was imaginary he wouldn’t even comment about it. He would see it more like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. I am sure people would not have a problem with a group of people that believe in the Tooth Fairy going out there to help people.
Report abuse
lay off.
Report abuse
Jason,, I’ll have a pint of whatever you’re drinking.
Report abuse
Jason,
In many respects I do see your god (and any god for that matter) as like the tooth fairy or Santa Claus – they are all things that people like to believe in despite the fact that there is no evidence for the existence of any of them.
As for people who believe in the tooth fairy helping people – well they are pretty much exclusively children I expect – they’ve an excuse to believe in the imaginary.
But there is one significant difference. I can’t recall anyone ever starting a war in the name of the tooth fairy or Santa Claus – would that we could all say the same about people’s various gods.
Your view that people who have no belief in god have no sense of morality is either astonishingly naive or astonishingly arrogant.
In a land of free speech and freedom of belief, I’ll tolerate your belief in god, even though I see it as totally delusional.
However, that doesn’t mean that I or anyone else has to tolerate people preaching about it at us in a public place, even if it is as an ulterior motive to offering practical help.
Report abuse
Maybe there should be a new group similar to the Street Pastors that could address the problem at a grass roots level?
I propose starting Pub Pastors. A pastor from a multi-denominational pool could be sent to every pub in Shrewsbury to advise the punters investing in alcoholic beverages of the perils of drinking and walking.
And maybe encourage them to go home nice and early on a Saturday night so they are bright-eyed and bushy tailed on Sunday morning ready for communion.
Problem solved.
Merry Christmas from Scottsdale, Arizona. Blue skies, 75 degrees.
Report abuse
Rob from Telford, bravo !!
Report abuse
First we have marshalls helping people into taxis at the ratepayers expense, now pastors, what is the matter with the young generation will they need minders for the rest of their life to tell them what to do. What a complete load of rubbish this is.
Report abuse
A sensible Pagan is what you need on hand to call the kids a cab and look out for ‘em.
Report abuse
Seems like a good idea to have someone patrolling the river, though I don’t see a role for religious ‘pastors’ as such. Just someone who might prevent a couple of accidental deaths. Perhaps a (shock!) policeman walking his beat and including a stretch of the river in his duty…? A CSO or two could carry out the same job, couldn’t they?
Report abuse
Let’s admit it. It won’t work, these ‘helpers’ had better have thick skins because they will soon feel the wrath of their clients in one way or another. The clubs exist only to throw as much cheap booze down as many young throats as they can so change the licencing laws back to a 1pm turf-out, close any club down caught serving anyone under 21 with immediate effect, ban all drinks promotions and reduce the alcohol content of all other drinks anyway. The alcohol lobby will kick and scream but there you go. Sad to say but deaths will occur regardless, alcohol is a strong depressant drug and society stands guilty of dealing it out to their children in the pursuit of making money.
Report abuse
[I wish people would take that negative energy and put it making themselves a better person.]
If you really took the trouble to look Jason there are many people doing that already without needing the incentive of the promise of another life after death and without needing a parental figure(god or whatever) to worship or serve.
[The real problem is, people like to do whatever they want with no accountability.]
In your arrogant view Jason. I am accountable to my own set of values which have nothing what-so-ever to do with religion or cults.It is my choice and nobody has the right, you included, to say that your need to behave well for a god or whoever (and been seen to do so!) is a better way to live your life.
So already you are preaching saying that others behave without accountability even though you do not know those people and you are acting in of judgement of their behaviour.
I can imagine that Peter would have less problem with someone who believes in tooth fairies and santa claus. That kind of belief is a child’s imagination enjoying experiencing a pleasurable or comforting fantasy whereas your scary christian belief is in reality the same thing but carried on into maturity and used to empower you and enable you to behave in an elitist fashion.
Give me someone who is helping in that scenario in a paid professional or skilled role or just a passer by with good intentions but not a badge wearing,god fearing, self-opinionated religious do-gooder.
Report abuse
Street pastors?
Now we know once and for all that youv’e lost the plot in Shropshire.
Report abuse