Twenty ambulance calls averted, 3,100 glass bottles picked up – and 3,500 lollipops handed out.
These are just some of the successes achieved by Guildford’s Street Angel volunteers every year.
The team, managed by Guildford Town Centre Chaplaincy, receive a crucial £5,000 grant each year from Surrey’s Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend‘s Community Safety Fund for a coordinator.
In February, the Commissioner joined a Saturday night shift.
During the evening, Lisa and the team helped a young man who’d had too much to drink, visited the train station to make sure travellers were safe, and picked up glass bottles that could otherwise be used as weapons.
Volunteers have been giving their time for the past 17 years.
The current team of 50 encounter 3,400 people, including 50 homeless people, in an average year. During their shifts, they walk around 10,000 steps.
