Volunteers sought to train as street pastors in Wick and Thurso
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Street pastors could be patrolling the town centres of Wick and Thurso on Friday and Saturday nights by the summer.
People over 18 are being encouraged to become trained volunteers and provide a listening ear to people who are traumatised and distressed.
The teams will offer reassurance, safety, support and provide help where they can. They describe their as work as practical Christianity in action.
The Rev Sandy Gunn of Ascension Trust Scotland, the umbrella organisation of the initiative, said local councillors and the police in Caithness have indicated that they are in favour of the ecumenical support scheme being rolled out for the benefit of weekend revellers who may be in need of help.
“In an age when many feel that they are just a number, street pastors seek to show and share the care of Jesus who noticed and valued all kinds of folk,” he said.
Street pastors are drawn from local churches of different denominations and they generally patrol areas where bars and clubs are located from 10pm to 4am.
They wear branded jackets and caps and carry backpacks containing flip-flops for women who have taken off their high heels because their feet are sore, Spikeys, a type of plastic bottle stopper to guard against date-rape incidents, and foil blankets for people who are cold.
Volunteers offer worse-for-wear revellers hot drinks, chocolate and lollipops to try and help them maintain their blood sugar levels.
Street pastors are able to deal with many low-level situations that ordinarily would be handled by the police, such as calming down people who are being rowdy.
Mr Gunn, a former minister at Pulteneytown and Thrumster Church, stressed the importance of listening and said volunteers will engage with people with mental health issues and victims of sexual assault and stalking, as well as rough sleepers.
“Just as a boil needs to be lanced in an antiseptic atmosphere, it is unhelpful for unhealthy thoughts to be bottled up,” he said.
“Such thoughts need to be unburdened in a caring atmosphere. There is a need for people to listen, care and help confidentially and non-judgmentally.”
Mr Gunn said that although volunteers would be patrolling Wick and Thurso they would do their best to help people in distress safely return to their homes in outlying communities.
Street pastors operate in more than 20 towns and cities across Scotland. The organisation was founded in 2003.
Ascension Trust was one of the six organisations that the Church of Scotland Guild supported between 2015-18 and members raised £131,804.
The money is used to develop training and other resources that have enabled the expansion of the work of the street pastors, who operate elsewhere in the UK and in 282 locations worldwide.
Iain Whyte, secretary to the guild, said: "We are delighted to have worked with the street pastors as they seek to be alongside people, mostly young people, at times of stress, vulnerability and even danger.
"We see the work of the street pastors as a living out of the guild’s tenets of worship, prayer, fellowship and action and as a practical demonstration of our call to serve.”
Anyone in Caithness interested in volunteering should contact alan.finch@maydayconsulting.co.uk
