KEEPING Newport safe at night is more than just police cars being called to incidents and making arrests, there are many other services that help keep a smooth operation at night.
After our patrol with the Street Ambassadors we learned how other vital groups keep the community safe on Friday and Saturday nights.
Meet the five people who work with each other to keep Newport safe.
Street Pastors
Steet Pastors are locally trained church volunteers, who walk around the city centre attempting to help and care for people.
They assist vulnerable men and women, by handing out flip flops, bottled water, lollies and blankets for homeless people. They also escort people safely to taxi ranks to get home.
Les Tuckwell said: “We come out and patrol the streets, we are available if anybody needs us, we are here for people to chat to, the homeless, the lonely and we enjoy it.
Street Pastors: Claire Price, Lez Tuckwell, Meg Rosen, Louise Hopkins and Lynette Burton.
"We stand by to pick up the pieces if there are any. I have been doing it for thirteen years and was involved in the very first patrol.”
Claire Price, a street pastor on patrol, said: “For us coming out we have a lot of passion for helping young vulnerable people, especially if they are on their own or have had too much to drink. We stick around to make sure they get home safe.
“We give them flip flops if their heels are hurting, it’s nice as a parent to know that somebody is looking after your child.”
The street pastors patrol the streets on a Friday and Saturday evening between 10pm to 4am.
Street Ambassadors
The ambassadors are part of Newport Now BID and keep businesses informed regarding known offenders using a radio system.
They make the city safe by visiting shops, businesses and bars in the area to keep an eye on antisocial behaviour.
Rey Evans and Tim Roam patrol the streets to keep people safe.
Rey Evans said: “We have been doing the ambassadors during the day for 11 years, then the opportunity came up with funding from the BID for night-time ambassadors.
“I was asked to take on the role, and I gave it a shot and seven or eight months later I am still here. It was an eye-opener when I started on the doors when I was 16.”
Tim Roam: “The worst thing we have seen in Newport is young people under the influence and you get friends and family interfering, and we have to intervene to stop them and look after the person under the influence.”
“There is a rise in young people using helium gas, we had an incident where they are freezing their lungs and coughing up ice to the point where if it went further, they would die from drowning.”
Doormen/Woman
Doormen/doorwomen, otherwise known as bouncers, front the clubs and busy pubs in the city centre.
John Parsons has run many nightclubs in Newport and works the door.
They check identification upon entry to stop underage drinking, and communicate with the street ambassadors, street pastors and police help look out for trouble and report any incidents.
They often put themselves in danger to help everybody have a safe and enjoyable evening.
John Parsons, owner of Cocos and doorman at the establishment, said: “Newport is a lot quieter than it used to be, the ambassadors do quite well, and the radio system works great.
John doing his job and asking two young men for their identification
“If you treat people with respect then they treat you with respect, most people are well behaved.
"This is a highly skilled job with a lot of training and experience involved and it's being able to be communicate with people.”
Bar Owners
Bar owners also play a vital role in keeping the city safe. Sam Dabb, who is the owner of Le Pub, has blood kits on site, as well as deregulators and a first aid bag to assist in any emergencies.
She said: “We are full every Saturday, on the streets I have seen trouble sometimes and the ambassadors are really great and useful.”
Sam Dabb owner of Le Pub has Blood bags, first aid and defribulators at her venue.
Jack Bannister, owner of Vibez, has put a big fence around the outside smoking area, to protect clubbers from outside incidents.
He said: "We search everybody who comes in no matter how old they are.”
Jack Bannister has put up big fencing to protect people in the smoking area.
“We have big barriers which helps us control everyone who comes in here and it stops people climbing over the smaller barriers to chat to their mates.”
Police
In pairs, four police offers patrol the city centre to look out for any trouble and work with the street pastors, door staff and ambassadors keep people safe.
Two police officers patrolling the high street.
Gwent police were contacted for a comment.
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