During my postgraduate training in magazine journalism, I edited a digital publication called FUSE.
I was responsible for managing the workload of an 11- strong team: commissioning features, organising the weekly publishing rota, managing social media channels and creating content.
Volunteers answer your drunken prayers
You’ve just vomited the past £20 worth of booze onto the street, but if your blottoed best mate won’t help you, who will?
When the evening’s intake has left you spinning in a fit of drunk deliriousness, you can stagger in the knowledge that in over 270 of Britain’s towns and cities, the Messianic street pastors will be around the corner to lend a helping hand.
Founded in Hackney, London in 2003 by Les Isaac, the street pastors started off as just 18 people – now 12,000 thousand volunteers are trained to help anyone rendered vulnerable by drink.
Supporting the sectors involved in the night-time economy (i.e. police, medical services and local councils) the pastors do their part to ensure the local community – not to mention your nights out – are safer.
Made up of the Christians who are part of your local church, the group of volunteers patrol the streets from 10pm until the sobering time of 4am on Fridays and Saturdays. They engage with people, and provide the necessary help to those who need it, irrespective of whether they’re religious or not.
Dedicating 12 hours of their weekend to helping those who choose to get themselves in that slurring situation might be a confusing prospect for some, but for Jackie Bradshaw, the reasons behind it are all too clear.
The Cardiff group’s coordinator organizes a team of 55. “We’re just there to help people really, to care for people; look after people and make sure they get home safely after a night out,” she says.
On average, Bradshaw’s team helps 15-20 people on their rounds – chatting to those in need of help and dispensing flip flops to the women who can no longer stand in their high heels.
She says, “Taxi drivers won’t take them home, so sometimes all it needs is half an hour with them – giving them some water and walking them a little bit. That tends to sober them up.”
Some are even apologetic when the pastors are brought in to help them. “More and more people are aware of us,” she says. “And I think because they realise we’re volunteers, people have a lot of respect for us – whereas the police don’t always have that.”
David, 23, from Cardiff was helped by the pastors after a staff party last Christmas got slightly out of hand. “My friends have told me that they put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me to some sort of recovery unit,” he says.
“I am very grateful for their help! I wish I remembered them.”
Boasting a strong pastor presence, Swansea retained the Purple Flag Award in 2015 for ensuring its city centre can provide a fun yet safe night out.
But with funding the project proving to be particularly difficult, with money only coming in from police, councils, fundraising and churches themselves, their future is as unpredictable as a stomach after seven pints.
Whether it’s a student night out or a staff party piss up, weekends are made a lot safer by the street pastors. When your friends are falling about you like dominos, it’s nice to know that a sober and friendly face is just around the corner to sit you down and hold the bucket – to answer all your sozzled prayers.
Aimed at a demographic of 18-28-year-old men, FUSE covered everything from sports to entertainment, sex to serious political issues. Written in a conversational style, similar to the tone you'd hear down the pub, FUSE was a multimedia platform dedicated to creating engaging content for Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vine) and for the website.