THE Wellington Street Pastor team welcomed the mayor of Taunton Deane, Cllr Hazel Prior-Sankey, with her consort Adrian, and the mayor of Wellington, Cllr Gary James, at a special celebration and commissioning at Wellington Methodist Church.

Other guests included local councillors and a representative from Wellington Police Team. Members of the local churches also attended.

The evening was primarily to commission the newest street pastor, Angie Filler, together with celebrating what has been achieved through the pastors’ work in Wellington over the eight years they have been operating.

The Taunton Deane mayor spoke highly of the work street pastors do in Wellington and Taunton, and endorsed their work to the local councils. Her consort, Adrian Prior-Sankey, himself a street pastor and regional representative for Ascension Trust, the charity which oversees street pastors, spoke of the impact the organisation has had across the country, showing statistically how crime and anti-social behaviour had reduced significantly during the night-time economy where street pastors have been introduced.

Simon Bramley, PCSO for Wellington Police, spoke in complimentary terms about street pastors being part of a team with the police in looking after the welfare of the town and how much assistance is given to policing issues in Wellington.

For more information about street pastors, go to www.streetpastors.org or email locally to [email protected]