Dunfermline Street Pastors’ Initiative

Updates on the work of the Street Pastors - continued

Safe Zone / Dunfermline Delivers.

We continue to work closely with Dunfermline Delivers, who are part of the B.I.D. group (Business Initiative Development) for Dunfermline Town Centre. Last winter we had one of the harshest winters on record, so we requested the use of vacant Council property at the foot of Douglas Street.  This we called The Safe Zone, and every Saturday night it was opened up as a refuge for anyone in need of help.  Every fourth Saturday (pay week at the end of each month) we would have an initiative night such as Safe Women, alcohol awareness, safe sex and I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) for mobile phones.  Such nights proved to be very successful and involved the following teams: Fife Police, Street Pastors, Dunfermline Delivers, Taxi Marshals, Neighbourhood Watch and St Andrews Ambulance Service.  A formidable team was all in place to ensure that everyone who came to the centre of Dunfermline on a Saturday night could be assured of a Safe environment.

We would dearly like the same to happen this winter, but these premises are now up for sale and we are in the process of looking at other possibilities such as a mobile caravan or a bus kitted out for such a purpose.

What have we achieved?

Our recent Log Book statistics show that:

• over 2000 flip flops/slippers were given out
• nearly 3000 bottles and glasses were lifted and disposed of
• over 275 foil blankets were used
• on one night during that harsh winter (19th December 2010) 40 blankets were given out.
• 20 Gideon Bibles were given out, one ending up in Afghanistan where a Black Watch soldier carried it with him on patrol. Another was given to someone which led him to go to church the next day. Praise the Lord!
• the Ambulance Service was called 12 times
• numerous cuts and grazes were dealt with, bringing into use the basic First Aid training we received throughout the year.
• we attended calls via the Pub Watch Radio System from nightclub door staff, taxi marshals and Fife Police.
• we gave directions to Taxi Ranks, Pubs and Clubs.
• we listened to thousands of stories, gave reassurance and prayed when asked, and showed God’s love to all.

A typical Saturday night Log entry;

We found Lee slumped in a corner on Abbot Street by the Library.  He was very much the worse for wear, very drunk, lying in his own vomit and too drunk to be able to sort himself out even to use his own phone.  Now this is how God nudges you in the right direction.  He was able to tell us his name that he was from Kirkcaldy.  He mumbled something about a taxi, but by the look of him it would be a brave taxi driver that would give him a lift.  Anyway, as much because we thought the walk would do him good we walked him (aided on either arm) up the town towards the taxi rank by the fire station and not to the nearer one near Lorenzo’s.  On the way up he said he’d rather get a night bus than a taxi and that he’d come to Dunfermline with friends whom he had lost and couldn’t seem to be able to contact.  He was also sick a couple more times and we cleaned him up.

This is all progress up to this point, but we thought it was probably bad timing for the night bus from the fire station.  Anyway we “Whaled” him to the bus stop and kept him walking around a bit more when we heard a voice, not a quiet one but a loud girl’s voice, “Lee”.  It was his friends from Kirkcaldy who were near the bus stop waiting for a taxi – the same one that apparently brought them to Dunfermline – and there we were in the right place at the right time.  They promised to look after Lee from that point on; the job’s a good ’un!  God is Good!

Funding.

We rely very much on funding to support the work of the initiative and to provide uniforms and training for our ongoing recruitment drive. Of course God, our ultimate provider of all that is good, never lets us down, and the additional funding is always provided just in time.

This year alone, Dunfermline Central Community Council provided funding to support our three most recent recruits.  One particular funding received I must mention.  Joseph the Kebab shop owner on Carnegie Drive whom we have a friendly relationship was shouting “Charity, charity, charity” one Saturday night, so I asked him to give part of that Charity to our initiative of Street Pastors here in Dunfermline.  He asked for a Certificate of Appreciation that he could put up in his shop, which I duly presented to him outside his shop and we received £100 towards our funds. He then said he had opened up another shop in High Valleyfield and asked for a Certificate for that shop - another £100 of funding!  God is Good, and may God’s blessings be poured on Joseph’s business ventures.

Conclusion

Through meeting up with other Christians every Saturday when we are on duty out on the street we have grown in our own faith both individually and as a team.  When we leave our base in the Gillespie Centre after committing our work to prayer, we know that God comes from the building with us. There is no other way we could have done so much on the streets over the past year. We are, and continue to be, churches in action with a desire to show God’s love to others, developing friendships, discovering stories and discerning how we can help.

Moss Barclay

Chairman, Dunfermline Street Pastors.

Some pictures of our Street Pastors in action - click here

We also have a Street Pastors’ web page at www.streetpastors.co.uk/CurrentLocations/Scotland/Dunfermline/tabid/547/Default.aspx