Out with the Angels: Girls Night Out

The excellent cartoons are by fellow Street Angel, Cate Field, an illustrator and art teacher. They capture the spirit of street angels, who are 'here to help people by listening, caring & offering practical help'

Friday night we had three teams out in Woking, 7 of us in all. Here are a few highlights to give you a flavour of what goes on in the Town centre, as part of what is called the Night Time Economy.   I've changed names to protect individuals...

 

10:15 Team 3  

Met Angel, an Irish Gypsy Traveller (ex con) who was feeling rather nostalgic  ‘everything not what is used to be’  I told him nostalgia is a thing of the past, but he didn't get it...

King the bouncer at Yates told us he had stopped a man with a rucksack full of drugs who was then arrested by the police. 

10:30 Team 1  

Young couple walking along, having drunk – he was verbally abusive to everyone he saw ‘attacked’ the ….. around the building  …  he started to get aggressive to girlfriend so we called on walkie-talkie. Police arrived immediately. Eventually they went towards the station, but vying for  a fight with anyone along the way. Went to subway & then heard girl scream – police ran to investigate….

11:30-1 Team 3 

Nice chat with Pakistani Taxi driver who said we shouldn’t give out flip-flops cos girls should bring their own. Also mentioned one girl he’d given lift to where WSA had paid fare was doing it for a laugh. She had the money…(its what you call being taken for a ride!)

Kevin was under canopy with a girl and a bloke who called him grandpa. He seemed to like the attention.  Checked he had something to eat. Said he had Chinese burger! (also saw him outside MacDonald’s later checking paper bags and he found 2 more burgers!

Drunk, scantily dressed, mouthy girl, falling about the Canopy flower beds was very abusive to female angels (her friend apologised) We walked away.

01:30 Team 2 

Attended slightly cross couple of ladies who had suffered slight cut to ankle as a result of a glass being thrown near them. Police also in attendance who said they would speak to the lady who had allegedly thrown the glass.  Wet wipes and tissues handed to lady who cut her ankle. They appreciated our help and left. We swept up the broken glass 

02:15 Team 3

Fight outside KFC a young Zulu Man and 2 older white men and younger woman.  Very racist comments being made. I asked Pakistani Taxi driver who was there who started it – he said ‘50:50 same same’  The two East European Bouncers did really well keeping them apart.  Radioed in and CCTV kept eye on it and Police came.  They talked to all concerned, took details and decided to check CCTV to decide whether to proceed. The Zulu man was picked up by his girlfriend. 

02:30 Team 3 

Opposite Yates – a girl sitting in gutter with her girlfriend. Falling about, very drunk. a young medical student & boyfriend helping. Ambulance called.  Given blanket to keep her warm and water  Ambulance crew decided she was being dramatic, acting, but taken off to St Peters anyway (at great cost!)    

03:00 Team 1 

At 01:45 Nigel was kicked out of Bed Bar and walked with us for a while. We left him outside and told bouncers he was waiting for his brother inside. At the end of the evening it turned out he’d been ‘bottled’ and taken to St Peters. His brother went to be with him at St Peters after negotiation with Taxi Driver (fare paid from Kitty).  Loads of time spent swapping SIM cards to make contact with police, brother etc  because of his phone had run out of battery

03:30 all teams
We decided to call it a day after we’d got Nigel's brother in taxi. The Woking Town Marshalls (Whiskey Tango Mike) had after all also left at that point ….. 

Paul McCartney was in concert on TV back at Council offices singing Eleanor Rigby:  ‘All the lonely people,  where do they all come from?’ Seemed rather poignant..... 

The Best quote of the evening  – one angel was told: “Oi Mate, you’re a legend……. you fought in the war didn’t you!"  (I wasn't even born then)

We decided it was a very strange atmosphere tonight (not jolly under the Station Canopy as people were leaving, as is often the case). Maybe it was because so many girls seemed particularly bitchy during their night out ….  which might be why we gave out so many lollipops to blokes (as a sort of compensation?)

Dude with wings

I came across this picture which had been commissioned by Christian Night Initiatives  CNI  @cninet

little brother:  Q   'What's an Angel'   bigger Brother: A  'It's like a dude with wings..'

We were attending a conference called SHINE  #ShineConference  for Street Angels (SA) and Street Pastors (SP) at St Saviour's Church Guildford (Sat 28/6/13). Their Mission Pastor, Andy Wheeler was compere for the day (he is also ex CMS) There were about 100 present from all over Surrey, some in uniform.

Les isaacs, one of the founders of Street Pastors talks of the Urban Trinity of Police, Council and SA/SP and the conference had a key note speaker in the Chief Constable of Surrey.

 

Lynne Owens (twitter:  @CCLynneOwens) mentioned how, when the police had been established in 1829, by Sir Robert Peel,  one of the Principles was. 'Police are the public and the public are the police' This applies to day with  the policing with consent model. And the Street Angles and Pastors have an important role to play. The Chief Constable was certain of it.
  
some highlights from the talk 
There are one million residents in Surrey and 4000 staff in the Police Force.     Overall 43 forces in England & Wales   And Surrey has a budget of £200m.    A number of services are shared with Sussex, notibly rape response, firearms, forensics and dogs. The back office deals with procurement, Insurance, HR, finance and ICT   This all operates behind the more visible Community Police - Beat officers and Rapid Response Units.  They operate a policing with consent model -   

Street angels bring a lot of the mix.  Offering to be prayed for can be scarey. But faith in action is very meaningful. She described Street Angels  as  'Modern Good Samaritans'  who speak with people in their times of crisis. 
 
Morality and policing 

• Custody not right for mental health issues. need sensitive handling.

• Grooming  and Sex trafficking.   More attentive since it has such a  big potential in town centres in a largely white middle class, affluent county.  There are  a  growing number of young women meeting older men Protection issues.  do not to hesitate to contact the police if there are any concerns

• Multiple ethnicity aspects   Other faiths Gaps in towns  Woking Guildford is quieter, less tensions. the question is   ' Are we pushing problem elsewhere or confronting problems' 

Last year was the 4th year of continued crime reduction of street violent offences. Domestic violence is under reported. Those Dudes with Wings are making a massive difference 

Outside Lights:  glow in the dark  

Woking Street Angels: All's well that Ends well

We have a fascinating time each time we are out with Woking Street Angels.  This report I did gives you a flavour of the evening (from 10pm til 4am) and what we get up to.  NB names have been changed to protect individuals) and the pictures are 'lifted' from the the WSA website. 

Saturday night was a routinely active night, with nothing exceptional. Bed Bar had a full house as usual. There were a couple of fights outside Yates and BED.......which the police responded to.

We were 3 teams (7 in total). We devised a new rota at request of team members, to enable us all to be out for the last hour. We changed the rest times to one of half hour and one of an hour (normally we do 2 hours on and one hour off) 

A number of incidents:

·    Grace was distressed and feeling unwell and cold. She was with a girl friend who was really helpful (and not drunk). We used a fleece blanket to get her warm, gave her flipflops and water. One of the female angels escorted her to loo at Woking Hotel, who were really helpful... (‘Spoons would let her in). She phoned her boyfriend who came to pick her up in his car from Twickenham. We gave her a space blanket to keep warm for the journey home.

·    Spoke to young couple outside Yates who seemed genuinely interested in becoming street Angels. 

·    The Town Marshalls also explained what they do, whihc is basically keeping an eye on licensing arrangements - taxis and bars.  

·    I had spoken to someone from church who pre-warned us about a homeless man called Alan (Greenish army jacket, close cropped grey hair, with an army camouflaged rucksack) who she met at LarkinthePark @ GoldsworthPark. He is epileptic and has to take medicine and thinks YorkRoad can't look after the medicine. Team 1 met him and John reported they put him on a train to Guildford cos he wanted to go for the soup kitchen there to take his medicine with food.  The Railway staff really helpful and let him on train free.

·    Raymond just out from a Drug Rehab and wants to volunteer as a WSA..... 

·    Team 2 helped a guy retrieve his jacket from Yates.

At end of shift there was a girl under canopy on her own who said she was going to walk home. Carol (team 3)  felt she was very vulnerable (young, pretty, tipsey, alone) so we negotiated a taxi for her, using some of the money from WSA kitty... 

Positives: Lots of friendly banter with doormen, taxidrivers, Fastfood staff and Town Marshalls

I had a very helpful conversation with the Pakistani taxi Driver, Mohammad, who had helped with difficult incident on Sat 9^th Feb (which was used as a case discussion in Team Leaders meeting on 26Mar)  He explained how on the way home the man had wanted a wee and had fallen in the bushes. It was very hard to get him back in the cab and back home.  The taxi driver explained how he knew the couple, who were ‘travellers’ and were very ‘difficult’ …  He had tried to ring me but had written down the number wrong.

I also met Mickey (who was out celebrating his 31st b/day) who had been assaulted last time I was on duty near to the Galaxy cabs stand. (May18)  A Paramedic had been called by a passing bouncer and was on the scene quickly. He had been excellent. And Mickey had later gone to hospital for check up with potential concussion, but was OK. He said it happens to him often, although he does not go looking for trouble. There was one  bad assault in S’ampton – when some youths bad-mouthed his girlfriend and he stood up to them and ended up with kicks in the head and needing a pin in a broken elbow. He was a sensitive chat and talked openly about his own depression and how he helps with IT at a club for mentally ill. It was the most significant conversation of the evening for me.

I felt these 2 stories had a sense of (partial) completion, which you don’t often get......

Almost a case of all's well that ends well 

You can watch more about Woking Street Angels in this video

Angels watching over you

Woking Street Angels have produced a short promotional video:


WSA Promo 2013(Short) from Woking Street Angels on Vimeo.

This is all about Woking Steet Angels who patrol the streets of Woking on Friday and Saturday nights

if it is not visible above for some reason then click HERE     
 https://vimeo.com/61183595
 

Woking Street Angels - a cold and busy night

Woking Street Angels Report – Saturday 9^th Feb 2013

 
Libby, my partner for the evening wrote up a full and detailed report of the evening which will give you a very good idea of what goes on during a 'typical Saturday night out with the Angels'    (NB I have changed all the names, except mine!)

Two in a space blanket. Just what is needed on those cold nights!

It was a rainy cold evening/night but not quite as cold as predicted so that was a bonus!  ….though by 0430 having stood around trying to sort out a “domestic” for an hour  - it was pretty chilly!! (more later).

Libby and Phil on first tour of duty gave out our “earliest” flip flops at 10:30 – to a lady and her friend who had been to BINGO!! She was tottering on her 7” heels and so thankful to have ff’s to catch the train back to Guildford. Despite her protestation of not being under the influence – we feel she may just have had a sherry or two!!

Quake was open this evening – for a Special Needs Night: it was a well organised evening with plenty of able bodied helpers. We came across an unconscious female lying on the pavement outside around 1045 being tended by an older man who turned out to be her father and two onlookers (one young male and one female: they were disability workers who knew the girl). They all said they did not need help and this was a regular occurrence – girl was out sparko. Police arrived and they were told that no help was needed. Dad kept talking to girl and flicking her face – no response at all for what seemed an age: we were getting quite anxious: they all seemed unperturbed. They did accept offer of blanket. Then, quick as a flash she suddenly came to, leapt up, and walked off with Dad and got into their nearby car!! The young couple explained that she had a known medical condition that they could not disclose. Amazing that she was instantly conscious and OK.

Another meeting by Pete and Jo  was with a quite drunk young black man who professed to be earning £2k a day as a business adviser and offered Pete his card – it was the card of a lady Law specialist. Pete emailed her to alert her that this chap has a stash of her cards!

There were a number of great conversations with men and women on the work of SA and how much appreciated it was which was heartening. A pretty busy night in all  venues.

Whilst walking by McDonald’s at about 1pm we were alerted by a female that there was a girl in there having a cheeseburger who was in a bad way and was a Type 1 Diabetic – Heather was very drunk and very disorientated but gradually came to and started to talk as the cheeseburger took effect and then she had a coffee. She was from Ashford, had come to Woking with best friend Gail (they worked together as hairdressers) but Heather said she had deserted her and Gail had a plan to get home. Heather had Gail’s car keys in her purse. There followed a series of texts/phone calls/visit from friends they had met during the evening in Woking and lots of abuse and ranting – threats to be removed from McD’s if not calmed down. A group of other youngsters nearby offered to help to find Gail in the other clubs: they were brilliant and we gave them all lollies and Street Angel info cards told them to apply to help: especially one lad who was a 'real angel' and managed to somehow get Heather to give him her Dad’s phone number so we could call him to maybe collect Heather – She was very resistant to this: did not want her Dad involved and also had no money for taxi and neither did he - £35. We were about to offer to help towards this when one of the other girls came in and said that the Police would take her home if she was a diabetic but would first have to get para-medics to check her out. She refused. Finally after about an hour it was agreed that the £6 she had would be given to taxi driver and Dad would pay balance when she got back home.  Khalil of Boomerang Taxis took her to Ashford.

At the end of the evening around 03:30 just as all was calming and kebab shops were emptying etc we came across one very distraught young woman being huddled along by another very brisk, efficient lady in cowgirl outfit: as we offered help Susan declined and said they were fine, We watched them hail down a passing Police van and speak to the driver. The van drove off the girls walked towards us – it seems that Grace (distraught one - very pale, tearful and shivering) was concerned about her husband Kevin who was very drunk and threatening to hit her. He was around the back of Weatherspoons in the Car Park area. We went with them to investigate – joined by Susan’s boyfriend (Jeff, bouncer from Chameleon). Kevin was stood still swaying and raging …. swearing obscenities at anyone who approached him or tried to talk to him. Jeff seemed to be doing well – telling him to be a gentleman and take Grace home – all he would say was that he had given her the money for the taxi. She would not go home without him but was worried about what he might do. They finally got into a taxi together at about 0430 – with all 6 angels standing by - we are all anxious about what may have happened but they are married and unless she reports abuse or leaves him nothing will change. We gave her a contact number card and advised her not to go. The other couple were very helpful and Susan who did not know Grace wanted her to go home with them. Kevin at one point went from being aggressive and rude to emotionally and self harming – we all felt that he maybe had taken some drugs. Boomerang Taxis were again helpful took them home, 'cos they knew them well.

Another fight occurred in McD’s whilst we were in there with Heather – two young ladies being abusive were asked to leave by bouncers, would not so were ejected – there ensued a ruckus on the pavement and we called Police to deal with it. The two bouncers were hit and scratched.

£15 found in street by Jo & Jeff – a profitable night! The money was put in the kitty.

We were surprised to meet two Town Marshalls at around 11pm – Arran and Lewis ….they were surprised that we did not know they would be out! Seem to be similar to us but paid and looking at licensed premises and their applications more? It appears that the Town Marshalls are “hands on” in the sense that they responded before the Police to a fight and waded in to try to break it up.

Sorry this is a bit lengthy – busy night!

Vital Statistics 

Space blankets given out : 2

Fleece Blankets given out : 1

Knitted hats given out: 1 

Flip Flops : 5 pairs

Bottles/cans picked up : 38

People helped : 8

Contact cards given out : 2

Conversations over 18s : 17

Conversations under 18s : 4

Lollipops : dozens ! 

Bob the Builder: 'Entertaining Angels'

There were 6 street angels (WSA) on duty on Friday night in 3 equal male-female pairs. Perfect....

 Angel based on Van Gogh drawing

Our pair spent the initial time (first 2 hours) chatting, clearing bottles, greeting people. We talked to Pakistani Taxi drivers and an Afghan pizza man,  as well as Nigerian and Eastern European Bouncers. Woking is becoming much more multi-cultural.  We were offered a glass of green tea by one taxi driver who had once driven me to Gatwick and remembered me by name. I didn't recognise him at first. 'cos he's grown a bushy beard.  The sweet 'kava' was served by a restauranteer from Gilgit in N Pakistan. I had visited there in 1987, even visiting his village of Kaplu in Baltistan, so we had lots to talk about.... 

Since it had been raining, and because of the general recession, there were not that many people out  but we still had a significant evening of encounters and conversations.

A recent BBC article  claimed that anti-social behviour was down by 21% in Woking since the StreetAngels had been out on the streets.  This was due to a combination of good Community Policing and more visibility by WSA and groups like Outside Lights.   They were under the station canopy, giving away tea and literature. Interestingly some of the police thought we were the same group. 

By the way,  you can now follow the local Woking Police on Twitter @WokingBeat.  And Woking Street Angels also have a Facebook page

We had a number of encounters, in particular a fascinating conversation with 'Charles'* (*all names have been changed or made up*),  a well-spoken young Trader, someone learning the fast paced lifestyle, currently in £500 a month as a student, but soon expecting to earn £500 a day, if he could keep up with the highly pressured lifestyle.  

We came across one man, 'Pete'* sitting on a bench with his head in his hands. He had been kicked out of  pub for disturbing bahaviour and was feeling very low indeed.  He had lost his job and had lived rough a few time in the past and had also been in a drug rehab years ago.  He could see himself sliding back down and was talking of harming himself. So we walked him back to his house. It was difficult to leave someone who was talking of getting a knife to cut himself. Walking away can also be an act of faith.

The police seemed particularly helpful on this occasion going round to check on him.  We later got a message that he was OK and sleeping it off.

We also me someone  'Neville'* who was obviously very high and had great difficulty drinking from the bottle of water we gave him.  He did seem to really enjoy his lollipop.  'Bob the Builder'*  and his mate were looking for a place they could get a pint at 2 in the morning.  We all ended up staying with 'Neville' and helping him walk towards the centre of town, (he certainly couldn't walk very straight at all). They even rolled him a fag.  Bob the Builder said he had been an addict himself years ago, and had been off for 11 years and now had his own family and a good job.  He was really helpful with Neville, who said he had nowhere to stay cos he'd been kicked out.   We gave him a blanket and he bed down for the night in a  doorway near BHS,   The police, who knew him well as a PPO  (Persistent Petty Offender), said they wouldn't disturb him and let him sleep it off for a bit. I thought that was great.....   

I mentioned to 'Bob' that he had missed out on that extra pint on his Friday night out. He responded that helping Neville was much better than a pint. It had reminded him of where he had been and how far he had progressed. He may have been a rough diamond in the past, but he certainly shone that night. The Bible talks about practicing hospitality and entertaining angels unawares. Actually I think we saw an angel at work that night in the guise of Bob the Builder.......
 

Angels watching over you

I was out with Woking Street Angels again on Saturday night – part of the Jubilee Celebration weekend.  We were 8 angels and a visitor in our 'cohort'.

Our team of 3 included Caroline, who had met the angels when she was out partying a couple of years ago. She is a mother of two and was thinking about joining SAs, so she walked the streets with us til midnight. She found it fascinating to be on the 'other side' as she put it.

The Woking Angel sits on top of the memorial and keeps watch 

The first shift of 2 hours went very slowly. We talked together and greeted one and all. I chatted with Haroon/Harry, the Pakistani bouncer at Subway.  A bright, well-spoken young man,  he holds down 3 jobs to build a better future for himself.  A not-quite-sober man came up to him as we were talking. Tom asked to use the loo and Haroon explained it was out of action. ‘No problem’ he quickly retorted ‘I’m a plumber and earn £140 a day. I’ll fix it.  ‘But, you’re not authorised  to work here… Haroon insisted politely. Tom was not happy and swerved off to relieve himself elsewhere. Haroon commented that it is hard to be polite all the time. 

We spent the evening chatting to people, picking up bottles at one point sent off on a couple of wild goose chases. One after hearing of trouble in the town square. But the town centre is a building site with extensive renovations. The new Café Rouge is now open, and on this night it was the only source of activity, though very quiet.   

And the other time a passerby near Weatherspoons told us that there were some very drunk teenagers near the bandstand (by Toys’R’us).  When we got there … nothing. 

It felt like an 'almost and nearly' evening, we 'almost' got there on time, we 'nearly' saw a fight. We never seemed in the right place at the right time. Bu we did walk a lot – good exercise! 

There were lots of police around, and they seemed to turn up in places on time.  An arrest under the station canopy, we heard on the radio and from the bouncer at Yates about a man who had pulled a knife and had been taken off by the police.  And of a double arrest at the Chameleon. 

One Angel team spent a lot of time with a very drunk Italian girl and her Swedish friend who had been thrown out of BEd Bar. Their ID and keys were in their bags in the lockers inside. But they had lost the cloakroom tickets.  Eventually after lots of time and sympathy and negotiation, the team were able to negotiate with door staff and the bags were retrieved. And then put in a taxi home. That is, after all the ultimate aim. that people get home safely.     

A mysterious hand

Walking down street a girl stuck a hand out of her car and thrust a postcard sized leaflet towards us: 'Hell awaits a sinner ….. but Jesus died for your sins'

She asked ‘Are you saved?’  I must admit it is years, since that has happened.

There was a heaviness and intensity about her, a wistfulness and distance, as she sat in the driver’s seat of the car and handed over the tract. She had a passion for the lost and said she was from a church in Ottershaw. She wanted to know, if the church we went to was: ‘born again’. I responded  ‘Yes, again and again and again…!’  Her two friends returned with some coffee and they drove off.

The leaflet implied that being out on the street at night, drinking, partying … was being on a path to hell. I felt uneasy about it. There was a picture of two escalators one going up and the other going down… with a sign saying “it’s your choice' <=>  There were bible verses on the back talking of everlasting life (John 3:16) and being born again (John 3:3) and a picture of three crosses. It finished with: ‘if you confess….  Jesus is Lord…you will be saved’ (Rom 10:9)  

I was left wondering if it really communicated to the partying community in Chertsey Road. The encounter left us reflecting on how do you reach the ‘least, the last and the lost’. Does a leaflet really do it?

For me. I prefer a more gentle approach, summed up by prayer we prayed at the beginning of the evening before we went out. I’d found the book of prayers from Iona in the Horsell Hospice bookshop only that morning. (‘Each Day & Each Night: Celtic prayers from Iona’ J. Philip Newell, Wild Goose Publication, 2002)  It seemed to express the spirit of ‘Street Angels’

Watch now O Christ,

with those who are weary

or wandering

or weeping this night.

Guide them to a house

of your peace

and lead me to be caring

for their tears.

 

Watching out for people and simple caring (out of a motivation of love) and guiding them safely home, does itself speaks volumes…     Sometimes it feels like a 'mysterious hand' is with us, guiding, watching, supporting. 

at the end of the day, to use the title of another (controversial) book by Rob Bell:  ‘Love Wins’    

I wrote about that earlier  in two parts: The Prodigal's Return and Between Heaven and Hell 

Street Angels: now a part of 'Big Society'

It has just been announced that Street Angels has been awarded the Prime Ministers 'Big Society' Award.  This being received by Paul Blakely MBE of Halifax Street angels who pioneered the approach,  which is now operating in 100 towns and cities across UK (including Woking)
Woking Street Angels also got an honourable mention in the House of Commons by Woking's conservative MP, Jonathan Lord, during a  debate on Hackney Carriages.

This blog's painting is loosely based on Van Gogh's Angel, in Oil Pastel......  another Angel keeping watch at night.....    I've not blogged about Street Angels for a while but have been out 3-4 times this year so far. So come reflections on the evenings...... 

Sat 31st December  New Years's Eve
a night of 2 halves (as often is the case)  of partying and fun up to around 1 or 2 am with incidents forming the sting in the tail after 2 and 3 am.

An African man was frolicking on the wall outside Woking Station under the Canopy, running along recklessly. I was concerned he might stumble and hurt himself so went to talk to him.  He got into a quarrel with a couple  and was pulled down from the wall onto his head (a very loud cracking sound!) by a passer-by who was not involved at all. It seemed to me to be a moment of blatant racism.
The Police cordoned off the area because it was a potential GBH.  I had to go and give a statement to what I had witnessed and left my fellow angels to stay with the injured man and wait for the ambulance.   I later learned it had not arrived for some reason and the police had taken him to the hospital in a van for a check up. I had no idea what happened to him, and feared the worse.

 New Year's Night:  'All is calm. all is bright' 

 Friday 13thJanuary 

I like the new Outside lights jackets - they really do glow in the dark!  Outside lights set up a table under the Station Canopy and serve free teas and coffees. They are also available to chat and talk about issues of faith. They are a great complement to the walk-about service of the Street Angels.
As for the evening itself,  the highlight was being sung to by an elderly traveller who had an excellent voice and a real twinkle in his eye.  

Outside Lights glow in the Dark

Friday 3rd February
Very Cold night - we think it was around  -6 degrees. It was so cold,  some youngsters even wore coats!  So we changed the pattern to one hour out and half hour in just to keep warm.  We  helped one very cold  girl, with a blanket and eventually managed to get her into a taxi, and she definitely did not want her boyfriend to follow.
We witnessed a fight outside Spec Savers - a bunch of blokes making a spectacle of themselves
As usual we gave out lollipops which seemed to cheer people up in the cold.  There was quite a lot of broken glass around which we ended up cleaning up.   Definitely decided hand-warmers would be a great idea and maybe even a hip flask !  Team 2's pedometer recorded 8.6 miles walked during the night shift - no wonder it was quite tiring.
The Quake had a Goth Night with about  800 youngsters, who dispersed like smoke at the witching hour.
One great relief for me was meeting Mohinda from Congo, the guy who had been pulled from the wall on New Yera's eve. He said he'd hurt his hand and not his head whihc he claimed was made of iron! However he did have a big scar on his forehead. He also tended to talk a lot about nothing, definatley not right in the head .....

Minus 6 at night:  A cold and frosty morning

Friday 16th March
The majority of the evening centred around Agnes, a young woman from Poland, who was seen by one of the Angels sitting with her two pink suitcases.   She had been kicked out of her cousin's after  a dispute over money and could not return and was intent on getting the bus back to Poland on Sunday (it does a pick up in Woking!)  She did not have quite enough money for the bus (it costs £75) nor for anywhere to stay. She'd been hoping to sit in a waiting room at the Station til the morning and go to her agency and see if she could get some more cash.   Different Angels spent most of the night talking to her  under the canopy or in MacDonald's  and guarding her luggage. Also trying different hotels and B&B's. The Police were in a similar position of being concerned but not being able to act.  We were all using smart phones to surf the Internet for solutions.

Eventually someone put her up in Holiday Inn (not on our usual circuit) and we encouraged her to come to Christchurch the following day to talk more, after she's been to her employment agency.    An unfinished story -  which highlighted her vulnerability, and also the lack of facilities to sit and keep warm in Woking in the wee hours of the morning.

No room at the Inn

For me these evenings highlight the effectiveness of the ministy and the contribution Street Angels make to the Big Society. It also illustrates some of the gaps there are that need plugging....

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Another oil pastel of a girl partying, inspired by a series of large painting I saw in a London Restaurant.  The originals were done by Paul Lemmon as part of an Exhibition: 'a Slice of Lemmon' put on by the Art Movement.  Other picture featured  in previous blogs

Given the near freezing temperatures it made me think how COLD it is on a Saturday night in Winter Woking when you are just dressed up to party. We were on another 'street angels' shift from 10pm on Saturday night til 4 am on Sunday morning.  

'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' was the name of a novel by Alan Sillitoe (1958), which was made into a film with Albert Finney (1960). Over half a century ago. It portrays life in the raw, in the urbanised sprawl of the industrialised Britain. The drudgery of factory work as a machinist during the week and spending wages at the weekends ,"drinking and having a good time".  Nothing is new under the sun   and the same pattern continues for many ...... The traumas of the week are played out at the weekends

Mind you we cannot see beyond a small glimpse of what people are going through. As Street Angels, we meet people 'by chance' on the streets and get involved with a  few for a short period of time.  I was patrolling with one of the newly commissioned angels – ‘the reinforcements’ which meant we could now cover Saturdays as well as Friday nights.

It always starts out quiet with people intent on going out and ‘having a good time.’ So that’s the time we walk and talk and get to know each other and greet one and all.  Galaxy Cabs have constructed a new control centre – and we met the Pakistani owner and ended up talking about his father who died early in the year aged 102!  He had served in the British army and been evacuated from Dunkirk.

Michelle from Maybury was very drunk and had been kicked out of RSVP and couldn’t get into Chameleon. She was sitting on a wall on her own  and could hardly sit straight. We stayed with her and tried to get her to contact her friends.  She was COLD in her minimalist dress. We walked her to MacDonalds and sat with her for a while. She wouldn’t have a coffee but ordered a burger. And we couldn’t stay there all night. Outside again we tried a space blanket, but she just looked like an oven-ready chicken.  It was only when a policewoman suggested she go home that she agreed, so we found a taxi and that we thought was that.

It was only later we discovered she had been sick all over the back seat and the taxi had returned to base. She had stumbled out and according to the taxi-driver was escorted home much later, by the police. As I said you only ever hear part of the story…. 

Otherwise the usual picking up bottles,  and giving out our trademark 'lollipops and flip flops' (not so many tonight). We also got called out to the other side of Woking Railway station in response to a radio call about a distressed girl,  but whatever the situation was  had finished when we arrived.  Back on the Chertsey Road, a couple were having an argument opposite Subway but they made it abundantly clear they didn’t need any ‘interfering do-gooders’. We just ensured CCTV kept an eye on it, cos the girl had banged her head against a shop window lots of times  

After 3am the Chameleon punters spilled out onto Chertsey Road and a fight broke out on the street    It looked like 10 against 2. But it was really difficult to work out what was happening   I thought they were messing about.  But one lost a number of teeth, the other had cuts a round his ears. The odds were certainly stacked against the two guys.  The angels, called a police officer and talked to the guys afterwards as the police took verbal statements and generally calmed things down. One thing I learned from the incident is how very difficult it is, as a witness to a fight, to work out what is going on. I’ve no idea how people stand up in court and tell ‘the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’.  I’m sure CCTV camera’s help. But so much is open to interpretation.

At the end of the shift, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, as we were making our way back to base, we met Mark, a bouncer at one of the clubs, who had been in the army ('The Vikings') and was wounded in Helmand. He knew my fellow angel well from the army camp in Pirbright. I was impressed at his cheerfulness, given all he had been through. Funny how some people seem to come through trouble and rise above it, discovering the newness of Sunday morning, whilst others seem to fall victim and get stuck in the perpetual round of Saturday nights.........