Street Pastors win Devon Community Foundation Award

Devon Community Foundation hosted their annual Volunteer of the Year awards ceremony at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) in Exeter, honouring the hard work and achievements of the volunteers from the groups they support. The Street Pastors were recognised with Devon Community Foundation’s Thriving Communities Award for their invaluable help in creating thriving Devon communities.

The Street Pastors was an initiative that was set up to ensure the streets became safer at night. Consisting of volunteers, they work in partnership with the Police, Council and other statutory agencies to help to make the streets in Devon and the UK a safer place. Working in teams, the Street Pastors operate from 10pm to the early hours of Fridays and Saturdays and focus on areas such as Plymouth, Torbay, Exeter, Tavistock, Barnstaple, Bideford and many more across the county.

They are frequently referred to as the guardian angels of our streets, volunteering tens of thousands of hours of their time and dealing with incidents including helping young and vulnerable women get home safely. The initiative has seen a reduction in crime rate across the county.

Ros Ede from Torbay Street Pastors said, “Thank you so much Devon Community Foundation for your support and encouragement. Tonight we represent 21 Devon and Cornwall locations with over 600 volunteers and nationally over 260 locations with over 10,000 volunteers. We feel very passionate and love our work. It’s a privilege to be used in preventing a suicide because of the lack of someone to talk to, it’s great to see the vulnerable people get home safely, and be used in many other rewarding situations. Your help goes a long way to making all this possible.”

Roy Beaumont from Plymouth Street Pastors said, ““I am proud to work alongside such a wide variety of men and women who come together with only one purpose in mind; to serve the town or city where they live and so often at their own inconvenience. To then see the difference we have been able to make to peoples’ lives by the service we can give just “puts the cherry on the top” for me!”

Martha Wilkinson, Chief Executive of Devon Community Foundation said, “For this Award we were looking for a group or organisation that embodied volunteers extending a helping hand to vulnerable people, and making a real difference to the quality of life where they work. The Street Pastors do this throughout our Devon Communities. They help to keep our streets a safer, supportive and less lonely place to be and it has been amazing to watch the outstanding difference they have made! Congratulations to The Street Pastors on this well deserved award.”

Devon Community Foundation is the main channel for individuals, families, businesses and others to invest in local charities and community groups which address pressing social issues. In the last eight years, Devon Community Foundation has given £8,500,000 in grants to over 2,700 community organisations, voluntary groups and projects in Devon.

The nominated volunteers work with local groups to help and support others in their communities. Other winners included:

• Social Footprint Award: HSBC
• Rural Volunteer of the Year Award, sponsored by Mole Valley Farmers: Thea Rossitor (HomeStart Teignbridge)
• Children & Young People Volunteer Award, sponsored by Kitsons: Jordan Ley (North Devon Display Gymnastic Club)
• Safe & Well Volunteer of the Year Award, sponsored by Mildmay: Jamie Leigh (Cool Recovery)
• The High Sheriff of Devon’s Volunteer of the Year Award, sponsored by the High Sheriff, Robin Barlow: Carol Lewis (Forches Youth Intervention)
• Trustee of the Year Award, sponsored by DACVS: Martin Weiler