During January there were:

• 3 Friday night patrols and 3 Saturday night patrols
• 6 Patrols totalling 31 hours of cover involving 21 Street Pastors
• 7 pairs of flip-flops given and 17 bottles of water
• 240 lollies and Love Hearts

Here are some of the ways Street Pastors cared, listened and helped in January:

• Cleared up broken glass and litter in Grove and removed a claw hammer in Wantage
• Cared for a distressed young lady in Wantage
• Found and returned a mobile phone, bank cards and driving licence
• Helped to calm several aggressive situations

January is often a quiet month for Street Pastors and the nighttime economy, with fewer people out for the night, either waiting for post-Christmas payday or having a dry January.

Whenever we find items on the street that could be used as weapons we dispose of them – usually this means removing bottles, cans, beer glasses and broken glass but, unusually, one of our teams cleared away a claw hammer in Wantage.

One of our teams found a mobile phone, bankcards and a driving licence. We were able to contact the owner via a number stored in the phone and arranged to deliver the items to Abingdon Police Station the next day.

We cared for a lone female who was distressed in Wantage. We escorted her to where her father had arranged to collect her and waited with her until he arrived.

There were several aggressive situations in Wantage where Street Pastors helped to bring some calm. However, one incident had gone beyond our help so we called the Police who were already on their way in response to a member of the public who had called 999.