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Volunteers
Be an Angel Assist with Administration Become a Prayer Partner Donate Keep in Touch Volunteer
Intelligence
Training
Resources
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Be an Angel
The Street Angels programme consists of teams of 8 – 10 people per shift who operate an on-street contact support for those in need during the hours of 10.00pm to 3.00am (maybe later), with contact links to the Police and emergency services. Volunteers patrol on foot in Mixed gender teams of three. They have direct contact by mobile phone with other volunteers at the team base. Volunteers at the team base are available to offer practical support and prayer support.
All volunteers require enhanced CRB checks and agree to abide by working practices set out by the Bedford Street Angels’ Committee. All volunteers have the backing of their church or fellowship. A Church sponsor form requires completion as part of the process. There is likely to be a one-off cost implication to volunteers of in the region of £25. This is to cover the cost of jacket and training. All Street Angels will have a personal Mentor with whom they can discuss any issues that may arise.
Assist with Administration
Bedford Street Angels needs help with volunteer forms and references etc, using telephone and computer, working from home. There are also schedules, meetings and training to be organised. We will pay your expenses.
Become a Prayer Partner
Prayer support is an important part of any Christian initiative. A regular prayer update is circulated either by email or post. Prayer partners can either pray at home as part of their regular prayer times or meet with the street teams at the operational base in order to pray before the teams go out, whilst they are out and afterwards for any significant contacts or incidents.
Members of street teams are encouraged to find people they know who will become prayer partners to support and encourage them individually.
Donate
Please consider Making a one-off gift or regular donation to the work. Although a significant amount of the first year budget is being met, there is a shortfall in what we expect to need. Please consider sponsoring a Volunteer. We anticipate the cost of the uniform, training and preparation of each Street Angel to be £250. We are able to benefit from tax efficient giving (ie gift aid) for those supporters who are also tax payers.
Please contact Adam May to make a donation. We encourage you to pay directly into the BSA bank account rather than sending a cheque. Adam can give you the account details. Also please email Adam when your donation has been processed so that we can confirm receipt.
Keep in Touch
We do want to keep in touch with everyone who is interested in Bedford Street Angels. Our regular newsletter keeps everyone up to date and shares good news as well as issues that concern us. Your situation might change. If you stay in touch with us via a newsletter, there may come a time when you would consider getting involved in other ways. To register your interest, please download the response form. Volunteer
There is a lot more information about volunteering in the volunteer recruitment handbook. For example, it contains FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), our Commitment to Volunteers and our Expectations of Volunteers.
To volunteer, please download the application form.
Sign up
Volunteers already enrolled onto the project can sign up for duty on the 2010 Schedule. This is a Google Docs spreadsheet that anyone can view. To edit the schedules, you need both of the following: 1. A free Google ID. To get a Google ID, click on the 2010 Schedule above and click "Sign In" at the top right. Next click "Create an account now" at the bottom right and fill in the details there. 2. To be an authorised editor of the sheet. To become authorised, or if you need any help using the schedule, please email webmaster@bedfordstreetangels.org.uk.
Once you have these, Click "Sign In" at the top right to edit the sheet. Please enter your first name and surname initial only on the sheet.
Intelligence
Volunteers should report such things as under-age drinking or anti-social behaviour to:
Community Alcohol Partnership, Borough Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford, MK42 9AP. Telephone 01234 221603
Training
We are planning to run regular training sessions for Street Angels on Saturdays. The initial communication and crisis intervention training is mandatory. Other training is voluntary unless encouraged by your mentor.
Street Angels Conference The Reverend Cassandra Howes, Coordinating Chaplain at the University of Bedfordshire, Bedford Campus will be speaking in the morning on ‘Help, I’m a University Chaplain, get me out of here’. Afternoon speaker to be confirmed.
We are planning to set up training in the following areas: Knowing the Community
Recognising and Defusing Conflict
21st Century Culture
Alcoholism
Basic First Aid
Praying with the unchurched or non-Christian
Mental Health Issues
Identifying and Responding to Suicidal Thoughts
Protecting Yourself on the Street
We are looking for ideas in other areas. Please let us know if you feel there is an area that we should cover or know of a contact person in the local community who could provide training for us.
Training Resources
Some resources from previous training days are available.
31-Oct-09 Introduction to Bedford Street Angels (0.3MB PowerPoint Show)
31-Oct-09 Keynote address by Frank Fender of BedSafe (2.2MB PowerPoint Show)
31-Oct-09 Bedford Community Alcohol Partnership (4.9MB PDF)
Other Resources
Can you be a Bedford Street Angel? Item for church newsletters calling for volunteers, with endorsement fron Cllr Will Hunt.
Please download, print and display this poster in your church. BSA needs more volunteers so that we can field two teams every Saturday night.
Contact details for a large number of local organisations that may be able to help people that Street Angels meet. Please be aware that this kind of information changes all the time, so some of the details will be out of date.
Explains how to use the Nite Net radio system.
What makes Christian engagement in community transformation effective? How can effective community work be developed in your church or organisation? Download and discuss the groundbreaking findings of 2 years of research with 19 innovative Christian groups.
Archbishop of York addresses the Street Pastors Conference The Archbishop of York gave the keynote address at the inaugural Street Pastors conference on Saturday 14 November at the Emmanuel Centre in Marsham Street, Westminster |
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Bedford Street Angels is non-profit making company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales No 7187856 and a Registered Charity No 1137619 |
