On Friday I received a visit from Baroness Warsi of Dewsbury. We met with the Street Pastors of Wolverhampton, who regularly patrol the streets of the city centre until the early morning. Their roles involve providing water for late night revellers, making sure that people get home safely and most importantly diffusing tension and potential trouble by calmly offering mediation when tempers can be running a little high.
The Pastors love their work and go out in all hours and all conditions without any worries about their own personal safety. I can’t get one comment out my head, during our discussions it was remarked that a common response to the offer was help was ” I don’t even care about myself, why should you care about me ?”. So often at this time of year we get carried away by the commercialisation of Christmas when so so many just really need quality time with those they care about. It struck me that the Pastors are the perfect embodiment of the season of goodwill and epitomise the true Christmas spirit.
Paul.
