News and Updates

We are now recruiting! We are very interested to hear from anyone who would like to volunteer as a STREET, PRAYER ​or​ SCHOOL​ PASTOR. There are​ also​ other opportunities to get involved​.

Street Pastors was launched on the Isle of Wight early in 2009 in Ryde and has since expanded to cover Newport and Ventnor​ & on occasion Cowes​. In addition the School Pastors initiative was launched in Feb 2012 and currently operates in Medina College. It is hoped we will expand to cover other schools on the island in 2016. The organisation has grown to what it is today in no small part thanks to the hard work and determination of our 50 volunteers. We are so very pleased that the quality of our work has been recognised by us receiving the Queen’s Award for Voluntary service in 2013, in recognition of the quality and impact of our Street and School Pastor Projects. This prestigious award is the equivalent of an MBE.​

For more information on the care, support & practical help we give to people on the streets at night and the work we do around schools to provide safety and reassurance to students, parents and local residents take a look around our site and to download an application pack visit our downloads section.

​​​These are Christian volunteer posts. ​All ​School​ & Street Pastors will ​benefit from a full ​8 session ​training programme​ over the course of 3 weekends from 15 April to 15 May 2016​. ​We hope that school pastors can ​commit to one ​lunchtime ​duty per week​ & street pastors can commit to one 6 hour shift one evening per month. ​Prayer pastors are invited to join either team. We hope that volunteers are able to continue for 2 to 3 years​. We do welcome those ​w​ho want to continue beyond that time, and understand that some are not able to commit to the full 2 years. We are required to complete ​a Disclosure and Barring Service​ Check (DBS) and collect a reference from your church​.

Come and be part of our friendly, committed team and make a difference.

Closing date for applications to be received for the current round of recruitment is 8th March 2016.

St Thomas of Canterbury Church in Cowes will be carol singing in Cowes on Saturday 12th December 2015 from 11- 12 in aid of Isle of Wight Street Pastors. We’re really grateful for their support, if you’re in the area please do go and have a listen.

Denise Evans, our Street Pastors coordinator has decided the time has come for her to move on from her role with the charity and so she will be stepping down early in 2016. Denise’s enthusiasm for the role will be missed, but she’ll still be involved with the charity so we don’t have to say goodbye completely!  We’d like to wish Denise every blessing for this next phase in her life.

As a result of this we have an exciting new opportunity for someone to join the team as our new Street Pastors’ Coordinator. The role is part-time (16 hours/week) and you will work with the rest of our staff team, (Dan, School Pastors’ Coordinator; Karen, Administrator and Martin, Development Manager) Trustees and our dedicated volunteer Street Pastors to move the Street pastors initiative forwards on the Isle of Wight.

If you’d like to make a difference in our community, love people and want to show God’s love in a practical way then you could be the person we’re looking for. Full details can be found on our jobs page, including an application pack. The closing date for applications is the 18th December.

Behind the scenes at Isle of Wight Street Pastors we have been making some small but important changes to how the charity runs, to try and enable us to keep making a difference in our community as effectively as possible. As part of this we have made some changes to the staff team including the recent appointment of a part-time administrator. We’re delighted to welcome Karen Penn to the team and can tell from the short time she’s been with us that she, and the new role, is going to make a big difference in the coming months.

2016 will be a big year for us. We’ve been going for seven years now and we think our work is still needed and valued. We think we need to be in this for the long-haul but we need to work more closely with local churches and the wider community to do that. We also need to be more effective about showing people the value of what we do. Those things may not sound as exciting as a brand new project launch, but we think they’re even more important and we’re putting as much effort in to making these changes as if we were starting something new. Many of these changes will happen unseen and the visible results may take a while, but we think they will be worth it.

We’re delighted that Rev Les Isaacs, founder of Street Pastors and CEO of the Ascension Trust will be our special guest speaker at our commissioning service this November. We’re equally delighted that we’ll be welcoming another batch of fantastic volunteer Street and School Pastors to the team. Anyone with an interest in Street and School Pastors is welcome to join us for what should be an inspiring evening.

Friday 20th November @ Newport Congregational Church, Pyle Street, PO30 1UJ from 6.30-7.30 with refreshments served afterwards

We were delighted to receive the District Commander’s Congratulations for the work of our Street Pastors and School Pastors on the Isle of Wight. Each initiative was presented with a certificate at a ceremony held in Newport and demonstrates the high regard the police have for the work of our amazing volunteers on our streets and in Medina College. Chief Constable Andy Marsh was joined by local police commander Superintendent Sarah Jackson, plus Lord Lieutenant Major General Martin White and High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, Ron Holland to present the awards to the assembled guests.

The citation for the award read:

“For the past six years the volunteers have patrolled the streets of Ryde, Newport and Ventnor making a significant impact on its night-time economy. They are particularly excellent at looking out for vulnerable people, which helps relieve pressure from police and ambulance staff. They also reduce the likelihood of vulnerable people becoming victims of crime. In the past, Street Pastors have also been successful in diffusing violent situations, calming people down and preventing fights.

The School Pastors have patrolled in Median College and are now an important part of the school community. The team as reduced the number of bullying incidents, and they look out for vulnerable students, providing an independent listening ear. This has been acknowledged as making a massive impact on wellbeing of students at the college.

This award is in recognition of all their excellent work which has made them vital members of the Island community.”