Jamaica is known for its drugs, violence, Bob Marley music, white-sand beaches and Caribbean climate. It ought also to be famous as the birthplace of the church Street Pastors scheme. 

South London-based former Rastafarian Les Isaac visited urban churches in Jamaica, saw the effectiveness of their scheme in reducing street crime and launched a similar initiative in London in 2003. There are now over a hundred Street Pastor groups in towns and cities across the UK, from Inverness to Ilfracombe.

I first saw Street Pastors in action a year ago in Kingston (on Thames, not Jamaica) where there’s a thriving club scene. Every Friday and Saturday night, from 10.00pm to 4.00 am, groups of Christians of all ages walk the streets offering friendship and support to the large number of the boozed and frequently drugged young people milling around in the town centre.

The Street Pastors are trained to bring care and compassion but never confrontation or criticism. Where there’s tension or drink-driven violence, they usually back off, call the police if necessary and pray. But where there’s a bloke legless in the gutter or a girl hysterical because her boyfriend has two-timed her, the Street Pastors call (and pay for) a taxi or sit and listen for hours. I saw a girl asleep on the top of a wall by the river at 2.00am; if she’d rolled over she’d have fallen in. The Street Pastors gently woke her, carried her and set her down out of harm’s way until she had sobered up.

What amazed me was the warmth shown towards them by the clubbers, undoubtedly resulting from the many acts of kindness done over many months. I was part of a patrol at 1.30am when four young men lurched along moving from one club to another. “We love you Street Pastors!” they bellowed from the other side of the street. They were drunk but they meant it.

The scheme emphasises the involvement of men as Street Pastors because of ‘the lack of positive role models and mentors for young men from an early age’, but actually some of the most effective members are the older women. “The clubbers become just vulnerable kids when things go wrong,” explained a leader of the Kingston group. “Our older women are like the mums they need to help them out.”

The success of the scheme has been notable, with street crime reduced by 95% in Camberwell, 74% in Peckham and 30% in the first 13 weeks in Lewisham. As a result the police have become strong supporters of Street Pastors.

Since December Newham has boasted its own branch operating on Friday nights in Stratford, and I’ve recently joined the management team. By way of support both Newham police and the Met have given significant start-up grants.

And already the results have been encouraging and surprisingly entertaining. At our meeting last night Dave the Newham leader told us that (a) the team have bought a job-lot of flip-flop sandals to give to drunken girls who can no longer totter along on their high heels; (b) sprightly Len aged 83 has become one of our most committed members and is out clubbing (well, engaging with clubbers) into the early hours; and (c) the patrols have befriended and been praying with burly bouncers on the doors of two Stratford night clubs.

Also, a couple of weeks ago a patrol stopped a young man getting his head kicked in during a fracas outside a pub.

It’s gratifying. It’s Christian service and love in action. Watch this space.