New 'donkey' to help Shrewsbury Street Pastors
A new specialist vehicle will soon be hitting the streets of Shrewsbury to help keep people safe after dark.
The Street Pastors’ ‘donkey’ has been a familiar sight in the town centre for the last two years, offering a helping hand to those who find themselves worse for wear in one way or another.
The charity will this month welcome a new donkey to allow it to continue its work as it launches a major recruitment drive for more volunteers.
Street Pastor Steve Jones said: “For the last two years we have had the use of a seven-tonne lorry from Shropshire Council.
“It’s getting to the stage where it’s on its last legs and needs to go to the donkey sanctuary. We now have a date for a new vehicle. It’s an ex-police vehicle and it does have a cage in the back which we are keeping – but the locks are being removed – and that will be kitted out with all the equipment we carry.
“By being able to use something which has had its shelf life means we can carry on with the work of the charity.”
The new donkey, carrying everything from flip-flops to a defibrillator, will be out with the Street Pastors on Friday and Saturday evenings from early March, after it arrives with the charity on February 17. It will then be branded by the Shrewsbury BID team.
It comes as a result of partnership working between a cluster of services and groups in the town which together form Team Shrewsbury. The pastors work with other charities like the Ark, Samaritans and Mind as well as supporting the work of the emergency services.
Mr Jones said: “It involves everything from taking an 80-year-old couple home, who both had Alzheimer’s and couldn’t remember where they lived, to talking a young lad in his twenties down from the bridge.
"Then there’s the traditional role of the Street Pastors, which is that we give out flip flops and water. It’s really to ensure that people get home safe.”
