Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to listen care and help.

A Street Pastor is a church member who has a concern for society and who is willing to engage people where they are both in terms of their thinking and their location. Each Street Pastor undertakes 50 hours of training over 8 sessions, covering subjects such as counselling skills, drugs awareness, sociology, knowing your community, role and responsibility, and street safety.

Each Street Pastor team consists of groups of three to five people, each of which will work a minimum of one night a month, usually from 10 pm to around 2 am. They do not get paid for this “work” but do it as a service to the community. There is also a Prayer Pastor team at a base who pray into situations that are occurring on the streets. 

We work alongside Kent Police, Maidstone Borough Council and Maidstone Town Centre Management with the Safer Maidstone Partnership.  We support them in their initiatives to make the town a safer place at night. We are also working closely with the proprietors of the major town centre clubs and bars through the town.

Maidstone Street Pastors have been operating in Maidstone Town Centre on Saturday nights between the hours of 10pm and 2am since 4th October 2008. The project involves volunteers from approximately 15 Christian Churches in and around the Maidstone area and bases itself at Switch Cafe. There are two core teams, namely the Street Pastors and Prayer Support Team.

The Street Pastors operate as a team of 3-5 people who walk the streets, primarily focussing on concentrations of pubs and clubs. The Pastors respond to the needs of the town centre and their primary activities range from engaging with the young people out enjoying themselves and providing a friendly and calming influence through to much more focussed interventions responding to individuals incapable through drink.

We engage with the street population, many of whom we know well. We assist them with hot drinks, food if possible, sleeping bags and tents. We do have some and new and second hand clothing that we can help them with.