{"id":5711,"date":"2015-03-10T14:10:33","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T14:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=5711"},"modified":"2015-03-10T14:10:33","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T14:10:33","slug":"a-night-vigil-on-patrol-with-cardiffs-street-pastors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/10\/a-night-vigil-on-patrol-with-cardiffs-street-pastors\/","title":{"rendered":"A night vigil on patrol with Cardiff&#039;s street pastors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The clock ticks closer to 10pm. It\u2019s Friday night and Cardiff city centre is eerily still \u2013 the quiet before the storm.<br \/>\nAs the pubs, clubs and bars brace themselves for the swarm of nightlife imminently inbound, under the rickety roof of the Tabernacl Church, the street pastors begin limbering up their coats and rucksacks ready to tackle the streets of the Welsh capital.<a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS-16.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-5712 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS-16-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DG_PASTORS 16\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-5712 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS-16-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DG_PASTORS 16\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><br \/>\nGathered around a table of tea and digestive biscuits, the street pastors \u2013 six in total &#8211; sit down to discuss the night ahead. At the head of the table, 59- year-old lead pastor David Davis gives a warm welcome before reading a passage from the Old Testament.<br \/>\n\u201cThis is very much a spiritual battle,\u201d says David, \u201cmay the Lord help us to help those who are out to enjoy themselves\u201d. With that we don high visibility clothing and leave, rucksacks at the ready.<br \/>\nI leave with David and his accomplice for the evening, 24-year-old Lauren Martin, and we set off down The Hayes. Lauren recently graduated with a degree in engineering from Nottingham University and joined the street pastors after moving back to Cardiff.<br \/>\nUnder the moonlit silhouette of the Millennium Stadium, David crouches over to speak to a young man sleeping rough in the doorway of a newsagents. The man replies wearily, his face worn and eyes cautious. He accepts David\u2019s offer of a chocolate bar with a smile of thanks.<a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS19.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-5713 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS19-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DG_PASTORS19\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-5713 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS19-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DG_PASTORS19\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><br \/>\n\u201cIt\u2019s not always about those coming out to get drunk and have fun,\u201d David says as we continue on our way.<br \/>\nI ask him more about his involvement with the pastors and his long term goals.<br \/>\n\u201cMy wife was the person to get me involved with the pastors, one day she just said \u2018you\u2019ll be good at that\u2019.&#8221;<br \/>\nDavid continues: \u201cThis was after I came back from living abroad. I moved away for a while, met my now wife, became a Christian and came back to Cardiff where she worked as a midwife.&#8221;<br \/>\nAs he paints a picture of his past, we approach the alcohol treatment centre (ATC) on Bridge Street. A small team of paramedics mill around inside, hoping for a quiet evening where their expertise of saving lives isn\u2019t called upon.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s nearing 11.30pm and the streets are now a hive of activity. A passing group of young women from the valleys slur thanks to the pastors for \u201cbeing good people\u201d as they join a nightclub queue, fiercely battling a lack of balance and precariously high heels.<br \/>\nA call comes through to David\u2019s headset, linking the street pastors to the police via a control room middle man. A local man has been refused entry from a student nightclub and is in a bad way.<br \/>\nWithin moments, David has steadied the young man who becomes a dead-weight. As the queue of intoxicated clubbers look on, Lauren emerges with a wheelchair provided by a nearby hotel and the man is wheeled off to the ATC, an impressively fluid operation.<a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-5716 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS3-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DG_PASTORS3\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-medium wp-image-5716 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DG_PASTORS3-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DG_PASTORS3\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><br \/>\nOn approaching the medical unit paramedics take over, hoisting the man onto a nearby bed. Slumping into a chair, David wipes his brow as staff insist he should call for assistance when approaching the centre.<br \/>\n\u201cI try my best, I don\u2019t want to call the paramedics out if possible,\u201d David says between heavy breaths as we leave the medical unit once again.<br \/>\nAnother call has come in, a man has broken away from his friends on Queen Street and is worse for wear. \u201cMy busiest day was probably the so named black Friday last year, the last Friday before Christmas\u201d, David says, his breath steadying.<br \/>\n\u201cI\u2019d actually just come back from having time off following a heart attack and Cardiff was packed, it certainly was a hectic night,\u201d he continues.<br \/>\nThe man in need of help is propped against a Wetherspoon\u2019s window cradling an empty pint glass.<br \/>\nHe looks to be in his mid-forties. David manages to decipher the man\u2019s name, he goes by Michael.<br \/>\nDavid says: \u201cWe are trained to grab their belt and use it as a support to hold them up.&#8221;<br \/>\nMichael seems quite content to be steered through the streets, a childlike grin on his face as though embarking upon an adventure.<br \/>\nAs David and Lauren guide Michael through the doors of the unit I check the time. It\u2019s 4am and the street pastors watch is over.<br \/>\nI thank the pastors for their time and ask about their next meet as I turn to leave. The streets are silent once more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The clock ticks closer to 10pm. It\u2019s Friday night and Cardiff city centre is eerily still \u2013 the quiet before the storm. As the pubs, clubs and bars brace themselves for the swarm of nightlife imminently inbound, under the rickety roof of the Tabernacl Church, the street pastors begin limbering up their coats and rucksacks ready to tackle the streets of the Welsh capital. Gathered around a table of tea and digestive biscuits, the street pastors \u2013 six in total [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":5712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,14],"tags":[1893,2114,1291,2871,1712,1155,2872,2873,2874,170,2875,172,339,2876,1716],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-longer-reads","tag-alcohol","tag-beer","tag-cardiff-2","tag-clubbing","tag-drink","tag-drugs","tag-drunk","tag-lager","tag-night","tag-nightlife","tag-sleep","tag-street-pastors","tag-wales","tag-wheelbarrow","tag-wine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A night vigil on patrol with Cardiff&#039;s street pastors - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/03\/10\/a-night-vigil-on-patrol-with-cardiffs-street-pastors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A night vigil on patrol with Cardiff&#039;s street pastors - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The clock ticks closer to 10pm. It\u2019s Friday night and Cardiff city centre is eerily still \u2013 the quiet before the storm. As the pubs, clubs and bars brace themselves for the swarm of nightlife imminently inbound, under the rickety roof of the Tabernacl Church, the street pastors begin limbering up their coats and rucksacks ready to tackle the streets of the Welsh capital. 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