03/05/2026
Thatcham u3a General Meeting, Friday 8th May 2026, 2-4pm at the Frank Hutchings Hall
Free for members, non-members £2
As usual we will have tea and biscuits and the opportunity to chat before the speakers, and our book and jigsaw swap tables will be available where you can take home a book or jigsaw for free.
The speakers for our General Meeting this month are from Newbury Street Pastors who go out late at night to help people in Newbury town centre.
Street Pastors are an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people by caring, listening and talking.
They are church members who are willing to offer support, practical help and a visible ministry to those who are out in the town late at night. They reassure folk who may feel vulnerable, help reduce the fear of crime, provide a listening ear and offer genuine, non-judgmental pastoral support to those who need help. They are not about preaching but about helping people – the gospel is at the heart of what they do and why they do it but not at the forefront of what they say.
Sometimes caring, listening and helping on the streets on a Friday or Saturday night is straight forward. Calming down a tussle between night time revellers or ensuring someone safely catches their night bus home. Making sure people are in safe company, administering basic first aid and offering them water, flip flops or lollipops to help them sober up or raise their sugar levels if they have drunk too much. People act as they do because they often have underlying problems in their lives and they don’t know how to deal with them or they are trying to block them out.
There are times when people’s lives spill out onto the streets. An argument at home, mental health challenges and homelessness. These situations are sometimes difficult to spot and challenging to engage with. Their training programme develops skills to handle such situations. Sometimes just their presence can disperse a tense situation or have a calming influence.
They patrol by walking slowly through Newbury town centre within the sight of the cameras, looking and observing for those who may need help or a listening ear. On some nights they can walk about 6 miles, so it’s also a good form of exercise!
That’s why they exist. Newbury Street Pastors patrol the town centre, caring, listening and helping anyone we encounter. They are trained to help those who may be vulnerable and in difficult situations. They seek to serve the police and the local authority and help take the strain of the incredible amount of emergency calls that are made on Friday and Saturday nights.
