We are really excited about working with Street Pastors here in Reading, so much so that two members of our team will be joining them one Saturday night in September to observe first hand the good work that they do. When asked why they were volunteering, Mark said; “we like to understand the charities we support and what better way than witnessing first hand the help and support Reading Street Pastors give to the public, late on a Saturday night”. Alison added; “as a Reading mother it is comforting to know that there are people out there that really do care about others and can provide help and support in a time of need.”

Reading Street Pastors have also recently launched a new initiative, Rail Pastors, and we will be helping them to promote this too. Our design team have been hard at work creating an identity for this new initiative and will be working on the Street Pastors artwork for the upcoming Reading Festival. In 2011, they were invited to patrol inside Reading Festival and since then have been invited back each year. Last year they had a tent at the festival to provide a safe area where festival goers could relax and enjoy a coffee, cup of tea or indulge in a hot chocolate.

This year we are going to help them improve the tent with large signs and banners. When we spoke to Sally Leonard of Reading Street Pastors she told us, “We are part of a national team first pioneered in 2003, and Street Pastors continues to grow throughout the UK and across the world. Street Pastors are trained volunteers from local churches and we care about our community. We are usually on patrol from 10pm to 4am on a Friday or Saturday night to care for, listen to and help people who are out on the streets. We are led by our local coordinator and we also have support from local churches and community groups in partnership with the police, local council and other statutory agencies.”