“Street Pasta – pastie – what’s that?”
That’s a question we get asked often when we are out walking the streets of Doncaster city centre in the early hours of a Sunday morning.
3rd December 2011 is a date that is indelibly fixed in my mind. It was on that Saturday in 2011, that twelve intrepid individuals, seven men and five women, were commissioned as the first Street Pastors in Doncaster, and went out into the night-time economy to patrol the city streets.
Since then, we have had numerous conversations with people about faith, about the problems in their lives, and countless other matters of a more general nature. We have listened to people, and prayed with them and for them.
We have administered first aid, enabled isolated and vulnerable people to get home safely, supported many who had had too much to drink, given out water, lollipops, foil blankets and ponchos, and yes – given out over six thousand pairs of our iconic flip-flops
All in all, we have made contact with over nineteen-and-a-half thousand people, giving practical help to nearly twelve-and-a-half thousand of them in one way or another.
However, this level of service is now under threat! We are struggling to put a team out every Saturday night because we have lost a number of volunteers. We desperately need more new Street Pastors.
Have you ever felt called to be a Street Pastor?
We arrange training for all our volunteers, so you would not be going out onto the streets unprepared. You would work in a team of three alongside experienced Street Pastors, and the team will be in radio contact with the police CCTV, and have great all-round support from door security staff and the emergency services.
Why not come out with one of our teams as an observer to see what it is like? Simply send an e-mail to me at [email protected] and I will make all the necessary arrangements.
In addition, on Wednesday 3rd December (this year, not 2011) we are holding a special service of praise and celebration of all that God is doing through the ministry of Street Pastors here in Doncaster. We would love to see you there.
The service is at 7.30pm on Wednesday 3rd December 2025 at Powerhouse at Christ Church in Thorne Road. Light refreshments will be served after the service, when there will be time to chat with other Street Pastors and find out more about our work.
I wish you God’s blessing in your journey of faith.
Rod Morrison
Co-ordinator, Doncaster Street Pastors
