OKEHAMPTON Street Pastors has celebrated its first anniversary since the organisation was set up.

The group celebrated its first birthday with a free concert performed by the Bondleigh Barn Band on Saturday, February 17 at Fairplace Church. The event was well attended by the public and the music was chosen to cater for all tastes.

A small musical competition was run and congratulations go to Hilary Beveridge who won the over 16 category and Cameron who won the under 16s.

Okehampton Street Pastors are volunteers from the local churches who patrol the streets in a distinctive, easily recognised uniform between the hours of 10pm and 3am on a Saturday night.

The teams go through training and DBS checks before they go out on the streets and there are enough members to run a patrol every other week. They are there to listen, to care and to help when asked.

In the last 12 months the team have collected and safely disposed of 237 bottles, handed out 257 lollies, 42 pairs of flip flops and 12 bottles of water. They have also administered first aid and called the emergency services when needed.

Okehampton has a lively night time economy and the Street Pastors play their part in ensuring that the streets are safe places to be when out and about.