Street Ambassadors out once more

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Guardian angels in hi-viz gear will once again stroll the dark streets of Nelson, willing to lend a hand.

Starting this Saturday, anyone venturing out after dark in the Nelson CBD, will notice the city’s Street Ambassadors back on the beat. The team will be on duty Saturday nights from November 14 – December 11; Friday and Saturday nights over the busy holiday period until February 20; and then Saturday nights until March 27.

Their usual shift is 10 pm – 3.30am, excluding New Years Eve and some of the surrounding nights, where the service will operate until 4am.

The Street Ambassadors work in pairs throughout the weekend nights, delivering safety messages, offering advice and assistance when needed and intervening with the aim to stop trouble before it starts.

Street Ambassador Team Leaders are qualified to administer first aid and the teams keep in touch via cell phones and radios with Police, hospitality doormen, Maori Wardens and Nelson Community Patrol volunteers, who monitor the closed circuit television cameras on the weekend nights.

Nelson City Council funds the team and has been involved in delivering this service since 2004.

Youth and Community Works Limited is responsible for selecting, training, managing and supervising the ambassadors.

 

Purpose and benefit of Street Ambassadors:

• People feel safer in the CBD at nights

• Incidence of serious assaults is reduced

• Young people are made more aware of safety issues in the CBD and how to protect themselves from these

• Increased public awareness about the service and its aims