TAVISTOCK's 60-strong street pastors have shown that they really do practise what they preach by 'loving thy neighbour', as they celebrate five years of dedicated voluntary work.

One Saturday night in 2009, a group ofstreet pastors set to work on their first volunteer shift with an aim to bringing a calming presence to the streets of Tavistock.

Street pastors engage with people on the streets to care for them, listen to them and help them, and work together with other authorities to make the communities safer.

Rob Palmer, co-ordinator for Tavistock Street Pastors, said: 'We've been out on patrol every Saturday night since late November 2009 and as more volunteers have been trained, we've added further Friday night patrols. During 2014 we'll have been out on more than 90 nights by the time we reach the end of December.'

A typical night begins with the pastors meeting for prayer before heading out on the streets at 10pm — and with only one short break around midnight, the volunteers stay on their feet until 2am.

There are just over 60 volunteers involved in Tavistock Street Pastors who are drawn in from nine different churches, not only from within Tavistock but also Bere Alston and Buckland Monachorum.

The patrol aims to bring a calming presence to the streets of Tavistock, engaging with anyone who wants to talk, and offering practical help where it is needed.

The volunteers may also give first aid to someone who has been hurt in a fall or if they have been involved in an altercation. They also offer flip-flops to ladies suffering the pain of high heels at the end of a long night — to date, more than 800 pairs have been given out!

Bottled water to help someone sober up, a lollipop to calm people down, and cleaning up the many broken bottles are more of the many acts of kindness the street pastors offer throughout their nightly shift.

Rob said: 'Our ages range from people in their 30s up to folk in their retirement years — but still going strong and keen to do all they can to help others.

'Prayer has played a large part in bringing about the improvements we've witnessed, and it's faith affirming to all of us involved to have seen so many clear answers to prayer.

'We're very definitely not there to preach but it seems that people do want to engage with us to talk about all sorts of things.

'The vast majority of people have been amazingly friendly, welcoming and appreciative of what we do. We've got to know lots of the regulars in town, and of course the landlords, taxi drivers, and people working in late night food outlets.

'We're not in any way working as vigilantes or as extra policing resource, but we do hope that we can help our police by reducing some of the demands placed upon them. 

'We can do this by helping to prevent situations escalating into something that needs police involvement, or by dealing with the immediate practical needs of vulnerable people who might otherwise look to the police for help.

'We've seen quite a bit of change over the five years — a reduction in the number of violent incidents, we find fewer bottles and glasses lying around, and far fewer young people still out after 10pm.

'A few have been a little suspicious and wary of us, but it's not a problem, and we hope that after five years of seeing us do what we do, they now know that our motives are straightforward.'

Tavistock town councillor Jeff Moody praised the group and said: 'Most people don't know the street pastors exist but people do need to realise they do an incredible and admirable job.'

A service to celebrate the fifth anniversary of street pastors will be held at Abbey Chapel on Monday, December 15 at 7.30pm. All are welcome.