Tag Archives: Easton

Prayer Patrol & City Safety Volunteer Patrols Needed!

PEACEMAKERS **NEW** recruitment drive for Prayer and City Safety Patrols in Bristol.

The PEACEMAKERS Chief Reverend Palmer has sent out an appeal for volunteers to help them patrol the streets around Easton and HillFields/Fishponds Lodge Causeway, especially over the next few weeks.

 

LODGECAUSEWAY PATROLS:

There has been a rapid escalation of Anti-Social behaviour along the Causeway, disturbing the local neighborhood, causing havoc and fear to residents. It was reported in the latest Fishponds Voice that Police have stepped up their patrols.  There has been a concern for a while, however, the aggressive begging and threatening violence have seen many not feeling safe to walk about or do their shopping in the area.

Working in Fishponds/Hillfields is not new for the Prayer Patrols who started their work several years ago when the area was named among the highest in the city for fear of crime. Then, owning a small Peace Embassy/Advice office, worked alongside the Local Beat Officer, Community Centre, Local Council Neighbourhood Engagement Team, and Church was regular in attendance to meetings as part of the strategic safety plans.  Over time the area saw great improvement, with increased funding and sponsorships, housing improvements,  new community facilities, and new business.

Several years later they patrolled the area again there were several incidents where local pensioners felt unsafe to go to the Post Office.  Prayer & City Safety Patrols have maintained sporadic patrols in Fishponds namely the cycle track which runs under the Causeway, lanes, on pavements outside supermarkets, as well as along residential streets, and as part of their Say No to Drink and Drive at Christmas.

RECENT EASTON PATROLS:

Police at the scene after two bodies were found in a Bristol houseLast Month PEACEMAKERS sent out a concerned plea seeking for volunteers to help them patrol the Easton area.  They did this via their website, sending out numerous generic emails and texts to patrols friends and families, local groups, and organizations and via radio Bristol in an attempt to raise safety awareness in the area and to prayer cover the streets.  Although the appeal did not seem to yield a large response, the usual team took the streets covering as wide an area as they could. Today, in response to the recent double murder of two days ago, where two bodies were discovered in a house on a quiet Wood Street, Rev Palmer had this to say, “And to think we were only a street away a week ago. Such a tragedy. We could never have imagined this in such a tightly knit community and on such a quiet little street.  I can only pray rest for their souls, and that the perpetrators are brought to justice, as quickly as possible.  Also praying for comfort and peace for the family and friends of the deceased men, and calm and reassurance for the other residents of the said street and surrounding neighbourhood.” 

PEACEMAKERS have been patrolling the streets of Bristol for over 20 years, seeing a massive reduction in street, knives, and gangs related crimes, bringing consolation and community reassurance to many areas dealing with the fear of crime. Totally non-profit they give of their time and care, freely, covering large demography of the City.  Most of the work they do is ‘heart’ says the Rev.  She explains, “There is no glamour or fame here, simply heart, and genuine compassion, humble empathy, and deep respect for the human race, and their potential to achieve and enjoy better, safer, happy, and peace-filled communities. We do that! Our presence fills the atmosphere with these, raising hope in the areas we patrol. Man needs food and water, warmth and shelter, and supply to get all these. However, without a level of safety both at a personal as well as the community level, there can be no real satisfaction in life.   The Police do a good job in keeping a level of peace, but there is a level beyond education and religion, which only ( *** ) can reach, to create the shift needed for lasting change.” 

To report crime  as well going directly to 999 or Crimestoppers, you can use our Prayer & Safety Alert phone line on 0845 468 0114 (**Please note that 0845 numbers can be more costly to ring, whether you’re calling from a landline or mobile.)

      

City Safety Patrols sends message of Goodwill, Bristol, UK

PRAYER PATROLS AND CITY SAFETY PATROLS will be out and about on the streets of Bristol for 7 days starting 18th December through 24th December 2019.

They will be spreading their message of peace and safety, and goodwill to all men by way of encouraging NO to Drink and Driving.

The Patrols visited schools in order to share about their endeavors to help keep Bristol safe and as the season of festivities gets underway so too the levels of drink and driving crimes. The Reverend Palmer and her team of well-wishers hope that their presence will act as a deterrent and reminder to potential offenders.  She says “I hope that our little efforts over the period leading up to Christmas will help to lower accidents resulting from drinking and driving so that all may enjoy a happy and safe Christmas and New Year.”

The dates for ‘No to Drink and Driving’  patrols are as follows:

  1. Wednesday – December 18th morning Cabot Circus Shopping Mall.                                                                                       

  2. Thursday – December 19th  afternoon Broadmead Galleries.                                                                                                

  3. Friday- December 20th evening Easton.                               

  4. Saturday – December 21st morning Fishponds.               

  5. Sunday – December 22nd morning Watershed  @ Bristol.               

  6. Monday – December 23rd Old afternoon City covering King & Queen Square and Castle Park.             

  7. Tuesday – December  24th morning St. Pauls covering Stokes Croft

 

Halloween – Peace Angels in Easton

Teams of Peacemakers City Patrols were out and about in the Easton and Old Market areas of Bristol on Thursday 31st October.  as part of their ‘Be Safe Nights’ Initiatives planned for Bristol 2019/20.  They set off from the St. Marks Road at around 6.30 pm, it was dark, wet and cold and the atmosphere outside was charged with the smell of fireworks.

They passed clusters of adults and children dressed in horror costumes going from door to door ‘trick or treating’ along the way, and however innocently this may sound, there is always a chance of danger and ‘bad-will’ so Peacemakers hold that their  visible presence as ‘light’ which will help to ensure a certain amount safety in the areas they patrol.

All Hallows Eve or All Saints Eve was first observed as a Christians remembrance and celebration of the lives of devoted loved ones including saints known as hallows, martyrs and other faithful figures of the day.

The Patrols stopped to pray and to remember the life of taxi-driver Colin Wilson, at the very spot where he was robbed and brutally stabbed and died some years earlier.  At the time Prayer Patrols rallied members of the Easton Community as well people from across other parts of Bristol to join in a Respect4Life March through Easton and St. Pauls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Christians abstain from eating meats on All Hallows’ Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of vegetarians foods such as apples, potato cakes, and soul cakes.

Soulcakes are little cakes, made with allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, other sweet spices such as raisins currants with a little cross on top, these were given to the children and poor that would go from door to door begging, singing and offering to pray for the givers and their families, and some even offer to pray for their pets during the month of November. Over time it became a more commercial and seen more as a secular celebration and the soul cakes were replaced by trick or treating giving of sweets, costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’- lanterns, playing pranks, telling scary stories, creating haunting attractions and bonfires.

The Patrols aims to be a beneficial visible presence and a source for good during Halloween and Bonfire Nights.  Their Bright Fluorescent jackets can be seen a good distance away, cars. They do not go from door to door offering payers as per the All Hallows Eve Tradition, instead, they are ‘prayed up’ using a modality termed Pre-empt or ‘Operation Presence’.

 

The patrol from St.Mark’s Road, Easton to Pennywell Road, was fairly unconfrontational until they got to the Goodhind Street area. There they found a medium-sized group of boys, some standing and the others sitting on a low wall-fence. They were swearing and speaking loudly, and a member of the group ran across the road, placed something in a letterbox and shouted  ‘come out you cowards.’  Another larger group of young people ran towards the direction of the Patrols. They were hurling fireworks onto the parked cars, shouting, swearing as they randomly threw more fireworks on the pavement and in the middle of the road. The Patrols then gathered in to pray, then formed themselves in a line and stood motionless in silence. Perhaps it was the light from the jackets and the effects of prayers but the older boys scampered and raced towards Pennywell Road, and a short time later the smaller group also fled the scene too. The night ended peacefully as the Teams gathered in at another crime spot along Stapleton Road where a few years ago a Solamilan youth was viciously stabbed to death.

The next ‘Be safe Night’ Patrol will be in the Broadmead area of Bristol Bonfire Night Tuesday 5th November 2019.  To join the Peacemakers prayer patrol or City Patrols please telephone the Commissioner on 075 083 90298.

Peacemakers are also advising people to report any of illegal activities that they are aware of through CrimeStoppers or directly to the Police 999 in cases of real emergencies. See Crimestoppers number below or because you are already browsing our website you can find more information about this service on Our Partner Organization page or view directly on their website.

 

Peacemakers Prayer Patrols warming hearts in Fishponds and Easton

Feedback for Fishponds Patrol

It was good to be out Prayer Patrolling on the streets of Bristol again, especially as we were going to be in Fishponds, an area that we had not prayer patrolled before.  This is a very popular shopping area consisting of the usual Post Office, banks, supermarkets, retail shops and general stores, small local enterprises, schools, churches, bingo hall, public houses, car showrooms, and a thriving convenient bus route into City Centre, train and bus stations.wp_20161022_14_30_17_pro_li

So, it was a big shock to us, as well as for the residents of the Fishponds area, a couple of weeks prior to our patrol, to learn that a young 10-year boy was viciously attacked by thugs as he walked home.  The boy suffered grievous injuries to his head and body after he was beaten up and thrown to the ground, and kicked many times. The thugs then ran off and left him there until a passer-by came along and found him bloodied, lying on the pavement only  a couple of yards away from the main traffic light and pedestrian crossing. [*See Newspaper report on this story at the end of our reports]

wp_20161022_14_36_07_pro_liIt was a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon but we were determined to bring the  warmth of our prayers and goodwill to the streets of Fishponds. We felt that Prayer Patrol would serve as a timely crime prevention tool and a good way to help re-boost morale and confidence on the streets.  It was a very interesting and well-received Patrol.  Several Passersby stopped and engaged at our Prayer Stops, where our two youngest patrollers, ages four and five, along with older members of the team prayed with them. Many people told us that they were moved by the braveness and prayers of the children.  One man was so moved that he ran across the road  to the Bakery and came back laden with cakes for them.

It appears that the incident with the boy was a one off, the perpetrators were caught, and the attack is in no way a reflection of this usually peaceful, contemporary area of Bristol.

Report by Rev palmer, October 2016

Feedback for Easton & Old Market Patrol

It had just started to rain as we headed out for the Easton and Old Market Prayer Patrol, but our spirit was high. It has been a while since we did patrols on this particular route. The streets were exceptionally quiet, perhaps because it had been raining on and off during the afternoon.

Our starting point for the Easton  Patrol was St Marks Churchsugar-loaf which is next door to Sugar the Loaf Pub. The church was closed and not one church member in sight, but the pub was open and three men sat outside having a drink in the drizzling rain. At first, they were intrigued with our high viz jackets and then became even more interested when we told them that we were out Peace-Keeping and blessing the area. The rain continued to fall, becoming heavier as we went along, soon there was no sign of anyone walking the streets, so we decided to take a shortened route back to the base.
3-back-birdsNearing the Three Black Birds Pub we noticed a man standing in the doorway, drinking a beer and enjoying a cigarette.  As we got to him we did our usual greeting and he responded cheerfully and wanted to  engage us in conversation, he also had a prayer request, which we told him we would pray about once we got back to base.  But as we were moving away he called out “Please. Please, Please remember to pray”, it was urgent and we did.

Our final prayer stop was at a newly opened Resturant in the area. The owner welcomed our prayer for his new business, and even offered to feed us, and although the food smelt lovely and the atmosphere inviting but we had to decline his offer as we were still on duty.

This was one of our shortest ever patrols owing to weather conditions, and we finished soaked but greatly inspired.

 Report by Rev Palmer, November 2016

Continue reading Peacemakers Prayer Patrols warming hearts in Fishponds and Easton

Peacemakers “FOOT PATOLLERS” are back on the streets of Bristol

Global Prayer Mission- November

Once again the Peacemakers Team of hopefuls will take to the streets of Bristol, with much enthusiasm and positive determination, that their Prayer Patrols will be a beneficial presence and great upliftment to these communities.

Prayer Patrols started in the then crime-torn area of St. Pauls, Bristol. There were several street gangs and drugs influencing the peaceful neighborhoods then, making it very unsafe to walk about, day or night. Together with the community policing, and the involvement of other community groups and organizations, along with some residents, Prayer Patrols were at the center of providing a valuable, visible  presence in the area.  At one time they were patrolling the streets almost 24 hours per day.  They also opened an office in the area, the Peace Embassy, for concerned residents,  youths, and local groups.

Today, it is a different story, street crime in St. Pauls is at an all time low in terms of street gangs, community violence, or hostilities. WP_20160325_14_32_51_ProThen, the City Council allocated funding to community groups and projects, regenerated the area with new buildings and other neighborhood improvements, in housing, gardens for residents, and parks, etc. The streets are definitely safer these days, we found new communities have moved into the area, and there are quite a few new enterprises dotted around.

Peacemakers, however, are keen to maintain rapport, as a peace agent and a beneficial presence for good, in these areas. So, from October to December 2016, they will be out again rigorously patrolling the streets of Bristol. **See below for areas, dates and times**

 Autumn 2016 Prayer Patrols in Bristol:

*Fishponds                                  Saturday     22nd October        2.00pm (Meet up outside Morrisons Supermarket, Fishponds, on the forecourt to the side, and by the steps a couple of feet away from the Bus Stop)

*Easton & Old Market          Friday          18th November     6.00pm (Meet up on the street, outside st. Marks Church, Easton,next to the pub)

*St.Pauls & Stokes Croft      Friday          9th December        6.00pm (Meet up outside St. Pauls Learning Centre, St. Pauls)

The 2017 UK Patrols will include Bishopston, Staple Hill, Park Street, Bedminster, Barton Hill and St Werburghs.  Dates and times of these patrols are still to be decided and will be published at a later date.

If you are interested to know more about Peacemakers or wish to join us on any of the patrols, please do get in touch with us via the CONTACT US page.

Peacemakers Motto: Love, Hope, and Peace for all. 
"Reducing crime and building safer, more peaceful communities"

***Click HERE to See our Global Prayer Mission Prayer List for September