Angels without Wings

Image courtesy of Street Angels ChesterImage courtesy of Street Angels ChesterImage courtesy of Street Angels Chester

More Street Angels volunteers are needed to relieve pressure in Chester for emergency services. The charity, which aims to keep vulnerable people safe on weekend nights-out in Chester, has appealed for fresh volunteers.

After two years since the original pilot, Street Angels in Chester has been quietly keeping
vulnerable people safe in Chester city center on weekends at night. With the warmer weather coming and Chester races season due to start soon, more volunteers are needed to run additional shifts to help as many people in need as possible.

Street Angels is a churches-led street roaming welfare service on weekend nights in the city center to prevent, reduce the risk of, and help deal with the aftermath of health harms, crime and anti-social behavior. It works alongside licence holders, police, NHS and other specialist services to signpost and practically help people in need.

Whilst the origins of this initiative are embedded in Christian churches, you don’t need to be religious to get involved. The Chester group, which currently has about 50 volunteers, is part of an international initiative founded in the UK by the Christian charity Redeeming Our Communities (ROC). To watch a short YouTube documentary about what they do click here. The Street Angels Chester website can also be found by clicking here.

More information in the media about the valuable and greatly appreciated help provided by Chester's Street Angels can be found by clicking on the following links: Tarvin Online, Facebook, Instagram, BBC

To quote Councillor Simon Eardley this April: "As Sheriff of Chester, a few weeks ago I joined one of the Chester Street Angels shifts in the city. This team of volunteers do exceptional practical work to support folks enjoying all that the city has to offer at night, but might become vulnerable in some way – like handing out bottles of water, sweeping up broken glass, handing out flip flops. It was an eye opening experience! I’m pleased to say that they are well linked in with council services such as the CCTV system in the city but they are always in need of volunteers."

So, if you have the time and want to become a Local Halo and an Angel without Wings, help-out by joining Chester's Street Angels!