Southampton Street Pastors has been in existence since May 2009. We are both an independent charity and charitable company, but operate under license from Ascension Trust, which is part of a national initiative. We’re a Christian organisation, drawing volunteers from 50 churches in Southampton. We offer reassurance, safety, and support through caring, listening and helping wherever needed. We work most prevalently with the vulnerable and the homeless, but we are available to anyone who would like support.

We have invested over 83,000 hours of volunteering time in Southampton, and currently have 150 volunteers. After many years of continuous growth, this makes us the largest Street Pastor initiative in the UK. We operate from an office and community room at St. Mary’s Fire Station.

Homelessness work

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Give you information

Supply you with clothing

Provide a small meal

Provide hot drinks

Refer for food bank vouchers

Supply bedding

One of our main purposes is to support the homeless on the streets of Southampton, ensuring they are moving toward an accommodation solution, as well as attending to their immediate needs to ensure their survival. We do this through our foot patrols, which comprise teams of 2 in the daytime (operating 3 times a week), and in teams of 4 during evening and night time patrols (operating 4 times a week). This regular engagement builds trust with the homeless individuals who know they can rely on us to offer important supplies, and make the right connections for them according to their unique needs and situation.

To ensure our purposes are achieved safely, every volunteer goes through an in-depth recruitment and DBS checking process, receives 45 hours of in person training and is insured while on patrol. The training is dynamic, constantly updated and our training modules are very varied to cover many eventualities. Some of the modules included in the training are Homelessness Support, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Safeguarding, Working with Partners in the City, Drugs and Alcohol Awareness, Addiction Issues, Exploitation and so on.

We aim to be a mobile hub for the homeless who can express to us any barriers to progress they are experiencing and we will use our partnerships, connections and knowledge to find solutions. We also run a fixed hub at our base, which those experiencing homelessness can visit to receive further assistance, depending on their needs.

Protecting the vulnerable

Someone to talk to

Charge your phone

Help you get home

Give you flip flops

Pray with you

Keep you safe

We are probably best known for our work in the night-time economy, and are an established partner that helps keep people safe in Southampton. We provide a reliable and trusted resource that saves frontline Police Officers hundreds of hours in dealing with people in intoxication, the vulnerable, or those needing some form of support. Successive District Commanders have stated that our organisation prevents rape and other serious sexual offences.

Our volunteers are very adept at engaging with people and are well trained. Since our inception, we have assisted 4,000 intoxicated people, most of whom were very vulnerable and left themselves open to being victims of crime, or possibly carry out crime such as damage and assault. We have cared for over 2,880 individuals who were distressed and vulnerable.

We often receive radio communications from the Police for our Street Pastors to take over from them, knowing they can leave a person in our care whilst they get on with more pressing matters. It was SSP and Synergy Security (door staff operator) who were responsible for the police operationalising Op. Foil, a response to VAWG and predatory males that is still live today.

We also work very closely with Southampton County Council, and consequently are involved in many forums within the city.

Times of operation:

NIGHT-TIME PATROLS

City Centre | Fridays and Saturdays
10:00pm – 4:00am
Volunteers give one night per month, to assist with lone or vulnerable people, to chat with people on a night out, to pray, share faith, hand out supplies, and respond on the radio to calls from the Police, CCTV and door staff.

EVENING COMMUNITY PATROLS

Portswood | Saturdays | 6:00pm – 10:15pm
Thornhill | Thursdays (two patrols per month) | 3:00pm – 5:00pm or 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Volunteers give one evening each month, visiting the suburbs to promote safer communities.

AFTERNOON PATROLS

City Centre | Tues, Weds and Thurs
12:15pm – 3:00pm
Building relationships with the homeless community, and helping them on the road to recovery.

Bassett and Upper Shirley | Wednesdays
2:30pm – 4:00pm
Connecting with adults and children in the local area, at the close of school.