In Chippenham

Photo: Chief Constable Brian Moore, Duncan Hame MP, and officials from

Chippenham Town and Wiltshire Council help to launch Street Pastors. 

Chippenham Street Pastors went ‘live’ on Saturday 17th September 2011.

The story so far…..Chippenham has been irrevocably moving towards a Street Pastor scheme for the last 4 years, initially with the establishment of ‘NightShift’ – a place of safety in the Baptist Church in the centre of town staffed by Christians where police could take young people and those out on the town in distress for warmth, understanding and love. More recently, following interest and support by local councillors and the ‘Night Time Economy’ Group of the local Community Safety Partnership, in addition to the support of the local authority, Chippenham Street Pastors has really taken shape. God is truly at work in the heart of Chippenham. Through donation of monies from Wiltshire Council Community Area Board, Chippenham Town Council, Chippenham Churches Together, and individual church/worshipper gifts, we now have the means to deliver. 

The Chippenham Street Pastors initiative is governed by the ‘Council of Reference’ of Chippenham Churches Together, and in April this year, we Affiliated to the Ascension Trust. 14 Street pastors have so far been trained and another 9 will be available for operational deployment by December 2011. 

Chippenham Street Pastors became operational on Saturday 17th September when we undertook our first patrol. We plan to operate fortnightly up until January 2012 after which (when our second training course completes) we aim to move to weekly delivery. 

Feedback from our first night on the streets ….. 

I just want to say, everyone we have spoken to loved meeting you and 
your team, and I'm sure you will be a huge asset to the night time 
economy, if there's ever anything you need, or help with etc... please 
get in touch!  Manager, Karma Night Club, Chippenham 

On behalf of everyone here, I am most grateful to you and your colleagues for the extraordinary good will and ethos of service that sits behind the deployment. I am sure that the Pastors will make a huge difference to safety and well-being in Chippenham. Thank you for your leadership and inspiration.  Brian Moore, Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police 

Many thanks for your first report on Street Pastors live and in action this is really useful. Congratulations, it sounds as though you had positive first night and made an immediate impact. Well done to all of you.  Vicki Welsh, Manager – Chippenham Area Board & Night Time Economy Group 

As with all other initiatives across the country, our heart is to reach out onto the streets of Chippenham to care for the last, the least and the lost, all in the name of Jesus.