WARRINGTON Street Pastors are seeking support for their Help on the Corner (HOTC) space at the bottom of Bridge Street which opened for business for the first time earlier this month.
The team are appealing for some items of secondhand kit which would help the running of the project including a small fridge for them to store milk for their hot drinks.
The newly appointed HOTC coordinator, Peter McDade who is managing the project, reported that the location of the building is absolutely superb and the first night of being operational was a very positive experience.
‘By merely standing at the front window you can keep an eye out for incidents taking place; outside Reef, PJ’s, Voodoo, Feathers and just about from the overspill of Showbar. We were able to look out for individuals from the building and then radio the Street Pastors on the street to offer help.’
On the first night a team of 7 worked together and supported a 19 year old man who was heavily intoxicated and needed an ambulance and a young girl who was extremely upset and suspected her drink had been spiked. The team were able to calm her down at the Help on the Corner and eventually got her laughing and feeling positive by the time her parents came to pick her up.
Pete continues, ‘The police entered the building to say hi and connect with us, later on buying us milk that had ran out. It was great to build relationships with Cheshire Police and I see them having a cuppa on a cold night with us quite regularly.’
Warrington BID Manager, Harriet Roberts said, ‘We are really pleased to see the HOTC project we have supported being successful in its early stages and the partners working together. We look forward to further updates.’
Chair John Britton adds ‘We are in need of a few things one being PC computer (second hand would be fine) another is a defibrillator (we have had to go running around trying to lay hands on one a number of times). We are also looking for three second-hand mobile telephones to keep our patrols in touch with Help on the corner: iPhones ideally sim free would be fantastic. A second hand small fridge to keep milk in for our hot drinks would also be a great boost.’
Please contact John on 07826 541149 if you can help with any items or donations. For more details about Street Pastors and to donate via Just Giving see www.warringtonstreetpastors.co.uk
