On the 20th anniversary of Street Pastors here’s what one experienced volunteer has learned

Sue Shaw has been a street pastor for the past nine years, here she shares her experience of taking on the tough ministry in her sixties. 

It was nine years ago when I went out on my first patrol with Street Pastors. Like most branches, we went out once a month on a rota working from 10pm to 4am (now many branches have revised those times and start and finish earlier). I must admit I was apprehensive at first about being out at night, but I was part of a uniformed team, and we were given some excellent training beforehand.

Aged 62, after a time of being unemployed, I was recruited to work part-time as assistant co-ordinator for Street Pastors Kingston, my local town in Surrey. After forty years of full-time work, it seemed a good way to start approaching retirement. After several months the co-ordinator left unexpectedly, and I found myself stepping up to the role of acting co-ordinator.