Listen up!

We’re going to be live on the radio tomorrow!

Listen out at 8.10am (GMT) on Radio 4…Josh is playing the drums!

BBC Radio 4 92-95FM or listen online here

(and be glad that you don’t have to be in your seat by 7.30am after doing NightLight!)

Aberystwyth NightLight Video

Facing drama head on

I like to think that I’m pretty calm in a crisis.

I can see members of my family sniggering in the back row right now. I admit, I’m a bit of a drama queen, but I like to imagine that however much I’m screaming with terror inside I can put a brave face on things and get on with it calmly and efficiently.

Being a part of the NightLight team has been great experience for me. We have had to deal with situations, both on the street and off, that I would never have imagined that I would even ever come across, let alone be coordinating.
Dealing with collapsed individuals, giving statements to the police and mopping up minor injuries is par for the course. You expect it because that is why we are there. In a way it’s easier to deal with in that context. We’re out there to do a job and you just work as a team and get on with it.

However, what I still haven’t got used to is that it’s hard for us to turn off from it all. I’ve noticed that off duty care professionals find it difficult not to think about people with a professional mindset and to a certain extent we feel the same way.

I know as Christians we should be looking out for people that need help all the time. I’m not saying that NightLight is the only way that I am willing to serve people and that any other time is my day off…it’s just that I’m more used to what to look out for now. We can now spot the drug users and the trouble makers. It’s easier to sense when people are just having fun and when things are going to kick off. We know the ‘regulars’ and see them around town all the time.

And that’s why when a drunk guy started a fight last Thursday in the early evening in the middle of town, Josh was the only one to step in. Stepping in to break up a fight is always a debatable move, but as the guy calmed down it turned out okay in the end.

But when the drunk man then jumped on top of a moving car and kicked in the windshield, still it was only Josh that actually did anything to help.

The lady in the car was really shaken up, but everything was sorted out and the police were really grateful to Josh for helping out. But why didn’t anyone else do anything?

I’m not suggesting that we should always wade into any situation that should be left for the police. I’ve had the training and I know that would do more harm than good. But since we’ve started NightLight Josh and I seem to have come in contact with more and more dramas that we’ve spotted just walking around town.

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not that Aberystwyth has suddenly turned into a pit of debauchery, brawling and despair, but just that we didn’t actually have our eyes open before. Over the last year or so God has been opening our eyes and giving us bigger hearts to love and help people, and so now it’s much harder to walk on by on the other side of the road.

So, I’m challenging you today to walk around your neighbourhood with your eyes open. I’m not just talking about sorting out major emergencies; I’m talking about stopping to speak to the lonely old woman who live three doors up, or offering to do a bit of shopping for a sick neighbour.
Hey, if that’s too difficult why not just try giving a stranger in the street a huge smile.

They might think you’re a complete weirdo…or it might just be the only smile they receive that day.

I’ve been beavering away…

…making a new website for NightLight.

Check it out

www.abernightlight.co.uk

In the news on my day off

Nightlight has made the Cambrian News again this week for helping with the aftermath of an assault on Saturday night. As I wrote in my last post I was nervous as to how they would interpret my quotes, but it has come out well, and it’s really great to hear that the man who was assaulted is now off life support.

NightLight

Thanks to all those that have spoken to us about NightLight and also sent us encouraging messages via Facebook.

 

It was our first time out on Saturday and from our point of view it went really well. A few of the door staff seemed a bit wary, but on the whole everyone was very friendly and we were able to help out CCTV and doorstaff a few times.

We were also able to give out some flip flops and make sure a few people got their taxis home safely. Everyone seemed very interested in what we were doing!

Well worth it and I can’t wait to do it again!

This is why I hardly post anymore…

It’s finally going ahead so it’s about time I explained why I hardly post on here anymore and why if you see me around Aberystwyth I’m likely to be looking slightly crazed, and maybe shaking a flip-flop…

Church offers support to revellers

 

“A voluntary Saturday night street pastoral scheme is being launched in Aberystwyth, to help people who are in distress.

 

St Michael’s Church members Josh and Rachel Maynard are the driving force behind the NightLight project, and the scheme’s volunteers will take to the streets of Aberystwyth for the first time at 11pm on Saturday 15^th November.

NightLight is one of the first operational objectives of the newly-launched Aberystwyth Night-time Economy Action Plan.

Volunteers will offer practical help ranging from handing out water, advice on how to get home, and hope to be a calming influence by using their ‘conflict resolution’ skills in potentially-violent situations.

 

Mr Maynard, a zoology student at Aberystwyth University, said: “We have 45 volunteers from the congregation of St Michael’s Church, who are very positive about NightLight. We have the support of other churches, and hopefully they will come on board with volunteers. Rachel and I live in town and are aware of the problems that people get into on a night out. The aim is to help people however we can. It may be that they can’t get home – perhaps because of consuming too much alcohol – or they may even be lost. We will also be looking at conflict resolution in the hope that by gentle intervention we can defuse a situation, and be a calming influence. And I am hoping for a bulk purchase of flip flops, which will be handy for women who have trouble walking in their high-heels after a night out!”

 

Mr Maynard had the NightLight idea some months ago. He said: “I saw a similar scheme working well in Devon. I did not know about the NTE plan when I decided to set up NightLight in Aberystwyth, but hopefully it will play a useful part. And Aberystwyth police and Ceredigion County Council are being very supportive.”

 

Mrs Maynard, who works in the office at St Michael’s Church, sees NightLight as taking the church into the community. She said: “People should rest assured that our volunteers will not be judgemental in any way. They just want to help those who are vulnerable at that particular time.”

Volunteers will be out from 11pm on Saturdays until 3am Sundays, probably in pairs and clearly visible.

Mr Maynard said: “The volunteers are having training at Aberystwyth police station on things like conflict resolution, self-defence, and civilian law. And obviously they need to know when to step back from a situation.”

NTE coordinator Barbara Pritchard welcomes the scheme. She said: “This is a very positive scheme aimed at helping people. It is certainly not ‘information gathering’ as suggested by a few licensees. The aim of NightLight is to offer help, and it should prove valuable to the NTE of Aberystwyth.

Inspector Kevin Davies at Aberystwyth Police station said: “We are supportive of the initiative. They may be able to help defuse certain situations before they escalate and provide support to people who need it on a Saturday night.”

(By Norman Williams – The Cambrian News)

 

I am E.X.C.I.T.E.D!