A female reveller plucked to safety from a potentially sinister ride home, and a Polish worker found wandering the city streets after losing his job and accommodation, are just two of the people recently helped by Bradford’s army of Street Angels.

Every week this dedicated group of volunteers, ranging in age from 18 to 71, give up their Friday and Saturday evenings to ensure people stay safe on the streets of Bradford city centre.

They look after the vulnerable and give support wherever it is needed, and their mission is driven by their passion for bringing people back into the city.

Shirley Crowther, a 56-year-old supply teacher from Shelf, joined Street Angels last September after hearing about it through Buttershaw Congregational Church.

“You can just go and spend an evening and see how you like it,” says Shirley. “I was hooked from the beginning. I think it’s brilliant and I have met some brilliant people.”

Shirley loves Bradford but is conscious of the negative image it has, an issue that came to the fore during a recent Street Angels recruitment drive to boost volunteer numbers over the summer, when a woman told her she didn’t like going to Bradford because she felt threatened.

Through her role as a Street Angel, Shirley wants to re-assure people they needn’t feel threatened coming into the city, and that’s partly why she joined.

“It really upsets me when I hear all the negative things about Bradford,” she says. “I have met such lovely people on the street. People say they are grateful for us helping them. We want people to come to Bradford and have a really good night out.”

The Street Angels work closely with the police. “We are just an extra pair of eyes and ears on the street, aware that people can be vulnerable. We help them in whichever way we can,” says Shirley.

John Dinsdale, chairman and co-founder of Street Angels, recalls how the organisation intervened after overhearing a conversation between a young reveller who lived out of the area and a driver who had offered to take her home.

“She thought she was being helped by the guy to get home, but our team realised what his intentions were and we took her out of that situation,” he says.

This scenario highlights the work the Street Angels are currently doing with the police, volunteers from the NHS, probation service and night marshals to reduce the number of sex offences.

Operation Northdale involves the team raising awareness in the city around Christmas and the summer months; periods when the city centre is busiest in the evenings. Devices to prevent drinks being spiked are being handed out during the scheme, which runs over the next four weeks.

John says the Street Angels’ presence is having a positive impact on the city, with violent crime reduced by 22 per cent since the organisation was introduced.

To continue that success, and enable people who come to socialise in Bradford to feel safe here, the Street Angels need more volunteers to bolster the service through the holiday season.

There are 90 regular volunteers, but the numbers have been halved due to some of the student volunteers returning home for the summer.

John and Shirley hope to encourage others to join them and experience for themselves the satisfaction in helping others.

“I would like them to have a go and not to feel threatened. Some people ask if being a Street Angel is dangerous, but I have never felt threatened,” says Shirley. “We are in little teams of three, sometimes four, and we don’t get involved in any violence. I have never felt threatened at all. I have a lot of fun doing it and I’ve met lots of new friends. It really is a super thing to do. Just come and try it out for a night.”

- For more information about Street Angels, call (01274) 288282 or e-mail admin@bradfordstreetangels.org.uk.