Guildford Street Angels has received £1000 to contribute towards the cost of essential equipment to support our volunteers who help keep people safe late at night in the town centre. Local Tesco stores provide customers with blue counters which they are invited to place in an in store receptacle indicating which charity they want the £500, £1,000 or £1,500 to go to. The Chaplaincy received the second highest count and so recently gratefully received a cheque from Kellie Morgan, the main Guildford store Community champion.
The Chaplaincy along with Guildford Street Angels was founded in 2008 as a response to the high level of antisocial behaviour in the town late at night. Almost overnight, tensions were calmed, crime dropped, and antisocial behaviour was reduced by around a third. The project is run by Guildford Town Centre Chaplaincy, who continue to equip, train and nurture a team of some 50 brilliant volunteers provide compassionate care to anyone who finds themselves in difficulty. The teams provide a friendly patrol, every Friday and Saturday night, 10.30pm to 4am.
Angela Gammage, Project Coordinator said “We are so grateful for this generous support from Tesco to help cover the costs of essential equipment. Grants like this enable us to come along side young people in difficulty, helping them reconnect with friends, charge their phones, provide basic first aid, or a host of other simple solutions to help them get home safely and have a good night out.”
Tesco’s Stronger Starts – previously Tesco Bags of Help and Tesco Community Grants – has already provided over £115 million to more than 65,000 projects across Britain. We are grateful for their partnership along with customers alongside us this year.
