Minehead School Pastors
As you are aware, Minehead Street Pastors has been a great success in the 16 months of its operation. We have engaged with so many people of all ages, and have become a permanent feature on the street of Minehead at weekends. The teams of volunteers have helped, patched up, encouraged, lent a shoulder, prayed with and for, a wide variety of people.
It is with great excitement therefore, that we now hope to launch the School Pastors scheme, in partnership with West Somerset Community College. The scheme , like Street Pastors, will be run under the auspices of Ascension Trust, and managed by the same management group, extended to include college representatives.
Where Street Pastors has responded to the needs of the community on the streets at night, School Pastors aim to respond to the needs of the college community. We will provide a caring presence, listening and helping where we can.
Who are School Pastors and what do they do?
School Pastors are all volunteers from local churches who care about their community and have a heart for young people. They will all have been through a full training course to teach them about their role and how to work in partnership with the college and local community and will be readily identifiable through distinctive uniforms. It will cost approximately £200 to train and equip each volunteer. References and enhanced CRB checks will be necessary.
School Pastors provide uniformed patrols in groups of 2 or 3 in locations requested by the college. This will initially be on the college site, but in time, could be the school gates or in places where the students congregate. The number of patrols per week, will also be dependent on the number of volunteers.
Their role is to be an out of college friend, to provide support and be a positive adult presence.
If you feel that you have a heart for young people and want to get involved, please call me, Barbara Tunningley on 01643 703682 for an application pack.
Please click to read about our Minehead Street Pastors
