Roy Crowne is an Angel - for an evening

The Executive Director of HOPE joined the new Street Angels team in Beeston, Nottingham, on launch night. I asked him about the experience.... LC: What went on Friday night then? RC: I travelled up to Beeston in Notts and met with HOPE Nottingham. We had a brief commissioning service for the brand new Street Angels team and set out to be a presence on the streets in our fabulous blue and fluorescent jackets. We were joined on patrol by Paul Blakely, the founder of Street Angels and the Mayor and Mayoress of the Borough of Broxtowe. We felt it was important to stand with this new Beeston team as they embark on the venture and volunteer regularly at the weekends. The purpose of the Street Angels patrol is to be part of helping build community and be there to look after people and make people feel safe as they are out at night. LC: What are Street Angels? RC: Street Angels are volunteers, initially people from local churches, who get involved in reducing problems on the streets of their town or city. The project involves teams walking through town centres on Fridays and Saturday evenings from 9.00pm to the early hours of the morning. These projects are part of a larger network, of 70 different groups known as Christian Nightlife initiatives which reach out to clubbers and the vulnerable. Angels promote a friendly atmosphere and are on hand to assist people and keep safe those who have had one too many drinks, and to engage creatively with young people. LC: What was your impression of Beeston? RC: My first initial thought was that it was quieter than expected – I’m from East London after all. However, it seems that there is a misperception of Beeston that it is just like central Nottingham. When I went on BBC Radio Nottingham the next morning, I positively encouraged people to give Beeston a chance as it is a nice place and it is even safer with the new Street Angels Team on the streets each weekend. LC: What was the response of the people you encountered? RC: We got a really warm response from the people we met. We had lots of chats with them and they were pleased to see us out. Various young people were intrigued at what we do and why, asking questions. They were impressed that the main reason we were there was to make things safer but they did have the cheek to ask us if we would buy them a drink. Recently there had been a sad incident where a local youth died and we met a group who were holding a vigil for their friend. This meant they were open to be more reflective than usual. LC: How would you sum up the experience? RC: It was such a brilliant experience and hopefully we encouraged the team as they started out. Being a Street Angel is all about bringing hope to communities and encouraging safer streets. It’s an amazing thing to be part of and all power to those who volunteer on a regular basis. The simple act of being present and being salt and light where people are makes a huge difference. It demonstrates that the Church is active in the community but also that God loves each person. This new project and partnership is exactly the kind we need all around the UK to bring HOPE to our nation. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Articles in this group

Christian Aid
May 2013 story. (Author: )

Bristol Noise 2013
Report on May Bank holiday weekend (Author: )

Planning New Year’s prayer in Cornwall
. (Author: )

Learning to read in Milton Keynes
. (Author: )

A prayer encounter
Youth on mission in Newham (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Jericho Road project results in decrease in street prostitution
. (Author: Steph Glinski / Lucy Cooper)

Bristol HOPE
. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Worcester embraces HOPE 2014
. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Giving to those in need
Acts 435 (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Bringing HOPE to Norwich
. (Author: )

Church turn-around sparked by youth mission
. (Author: )

HOPE MK
. (Author: )

Churches' chaplaincy project thanked for 'giving me back my life'
. (Author: )

Skate and meet Jesus
. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Hope for Les Miserables
Opportunity to talk about forgiveness and hope (Author: )

Rural mission
Cream teas and country pub meets, contextualising HOPE for villages (Author: )

Diamond Champion
Volunteers awarded for community work (Author: Catherine Butcher)

HOPE-filled Bus
Newbury get set to launch HOPE bus (Author: )

Little Dean provide lunch club
Fresh expression of Church. Meeting community needs (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Allotment Mass
Harvest outdoors (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Big Street Harvest Weekend
Street generosity (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Paralympic Opening festival
Churches reach out in Stoke Mandeville (Author: Inspire Magazine)

Paralympic Games - outreach
v (Author: Lucy Cooper)

The Games - outreach
churches active for 2012. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Serve Our City in Preston
churches working together (Author: )

Love Streatham
Free Olympic-themed fun day (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Buzzy Bees - local contact with parents
Building community through mums and toddlers (Author: Care for the Family)

Hastings Temple blesses local estate
HOPE 08 inspired action became church plant (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Easter Festival - Lancaster
Lancaster to celebrate Easter on streets (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Primary school mum's impact
Easter lessons in local school (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Pancake Tuesday in Brent Cross
Local Christians chat about Easter (Author: Jesus House)

Easter Festivals and Passion Plays
Missional Easter 2012 (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Christ in the Centre
Passion Play (Author: )

Andover Passion
Passion play (Author: )

Soul by the Sea - Brighton
Easter Festival (Author: Lucy Cooper)

BBC Preston Passion
Passion play (Author: )

Bishops flip pancakes in Oxford
Pancake outreach (Author: Oxford Diocese - The Door)

Pancake Pandemonium
Local Lent outreach (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Home Hope
Combining practical provision with pastoral care (Author: Lucy Cooper)

A light in every street in Hull
Churches pray for the whole city (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Sharing hope with neighbours
Lighting up JESUS (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Carols on the pitch
Stadiums instead of Cathedrals (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Christmas outreach - better together
Hampers are distributed and commuters offered prayer and gifts (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Swansea HOPE to launch night shelter
Seven churches will open their buildings (Author: Lucy Cooper)

HOPE Gatherings
Birmingham and Lancaster (Author: )

Light in every street
Hull pray at Christmas (Author: )

Going beyond belief
Cambridge youth mission (Author: Lucy Cooper)

God's bean to a boot sale
Chelmsford churches do church at a car boot sale (Author: Emma Smith)

Bus brings hope to Belfast
HOPE bus used for outreach in Northern Ireland (Author: Clive Price)

Building a mission legacy
More than Gold and HOPE - more mission together using every opportunity (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Peterborough youth bless their city
Street Invasion 2011 (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Young people break down cultural barriers in Harehills, Leeds
as part of HOPE Leeds '11 (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Brighton-ing up lives
HOPE Brighton '11 makes a difference (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Preston's youth shine brighter
PR: Festival hits Preston (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Young people show love for Leeds
HOPE Leeds '11 mission (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Bridging cultures in Birmingham
Cross-cultural experience gives youth a chance to learn about and do relevant mission. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Outreach in Stratford
Churches in Stratford are doing mission in the open air. 7-11 July (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Youth to go to Cambridge on a mission
Preparations for October for the first Youth mission in a series of HOPE missions (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Shaw street redemption
Big lunch sees community mingling (Author: Tell it in Colour, Belfast media hub)

Love all - Serve all at Wimbledon
Tennis Outreach (Author: )

Diversity defeated downpour
20 churches unite in Northampton (Author: Clive Price)

Police request coffee van to help youth
From Frome to Glastonbury (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Churches supply solace to rockers
Isle of Wight churches of all ages get behind the Solace team (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Norwich will celebrate faith
Celebrate Norwich and Norfolk festival (Author: Clive Price)

Youth invest in deprived area
Project causes church to relocate (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Project HOPE - Swansea
Ten social action projects and a celebration over Bank Holiday weekend (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Southampton Passion
A dramatic Easter musical performance (Author: Neil Maddock @ Southampton Passion)

Christ in the Centre, Leicester
Sharing the greatest message ever (Author: Christ in the Centre team)

The Noise - 10th year!
A Bank Holiday weekend of social transformation to share Jesus with N. Bristol (Author: The Noise)

Primary School mums make impact
Easter lessons and a Hope display from one small group of mums (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Ignite Hope Local
A weekend of word and action in South Wales (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Hope-filled Hobbits
A production by the Hope Players (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Who moved the egg?
Theatre performance caused audience to consider the message of Easter. (Author: HOPE in Bedfordshire)

Eggstravaganzas and giveaways
Easter outreach in Warrington and Enfield (Author: )

Neighbours become friends
Seven Belfast students with a passion to see neighbours become friends (Author: Tell it in Colour - N.Ireland)

Messy church for families
Messy church is attractive to families who are uncomfortable with tradition. (Author: Evangelical Alliance - Idea)

Gospel goes streetwise
Chris Duffett takes Church to the streets (Author: Clive Price)

Easter Passion Plays
Several cities are performing outdoor Passion performances (Author: )

Highland community to experience Easter
A small community celebrates Easter in a new way (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Love and Angels in Notts
Love your Streets launch and Street Angels in Notts (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Bradford Street Angels: 3 yrs street patrolling
Bradford Street Angels grew out of a Hope initiative and is celebrating 3 years of making streets safer (Author: Bradford Media Hub)

Christmas - Getting in the picture
Festive events in Bedford that share the hope and message of Christmas (Author: HOPE in Bedfordshire)

Launch of new food banks UK wide
Christians reach out to those in need. (Author: Evangelical Alliance)

Churches in Bradford join together to host homeless
A PILOT project allowing homeless people to sleep inside local churches has grown to include hundreds of volunteers and the involvement of a staggering 53 churches. (Author: Bradford Media Hub)

Methodists rescue marooned motorists
Methodist Church becomes a relief centre from the snow. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Happy 5th Birthday Halifax Street Angels
Street Angels is celebrating five years working on the streets of Halifax. (Author: Halifax Street Angels)

HOPE Nottingham launches with vision to reach every area of the city
Over 50 church leaders and hundreds of worshippers gathered at the HOPE Nottingham launch event on 14th October to share their vision for their city and commit to working together more. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Reaching out to the party scene
Christian nightlife ministries encourage each other in their good work (Author: Steph Glinski)

A hub for the community
Englefield Community centre (Author: Hannah Street)

Fun day attracts 2,000 in Bedford
Hope in Bedfordshire in conjunction with Bedford Street Angels, Jaffa Orchard and local churches hosted a free Family Fun Day (Author: HOPE in Bedfordshire)

Cardiff young people challenge stereotypes
IgniteHOPE saw thousands of teenagers make a positive impact on South Wales for the third year running. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

Ministering to the homeless
With a new drop-in centre and soup kitchen for the homeless, HOPE Nottingham, formerly NG9, is providing for the practical needs of the homeless. (Author: Stephanie Glinski)

'Hope Players' thrive in Cambridge
Following the 2008 project, ‘Hope Players’ aim to connect Christians where they live and try to help churches collaborate more in the local community. (Author: Stephanie Glinski)

Northampton celebrates Global Church's birthday
Northampton churches joined together to celebrate the festival of Pentecost by heading to the Park and leaving their buildings to encourage and share with the town. (Author: Lucy Cooper)

HOPE on the Street brings change to communities
Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable have continued a door to door ministry, market stalls, coffee mornings, sport events, hope puppets, as well as a monthly Hope Café. (Author: Lucy Cooper)