Bolton Street Angels exciting July!

July was really busy month for Bolton's Street Angels. The month began with a coffee morning at the Safe Space Cafe  in the town centre - the base for the night time operation.  We raised a small amount of money but more importantly a couple of new volunteers.  We had a great social time together in daylight which was quite novel.

The middle of the month saw us entertaining the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, Mr George Almond, who had requested an audience with us. His request was very timely he was able to join us at our management meeting.  We were then delighted to have him join us on patrol on the last Saturday of the month and he completed a full shift.

Our other guest Angel was the MP for West Bolton Julie Hillinge. Julie, a Comer social worker and a passionate advocate of volunteers, came out with us on the last Friday of the month. She too served a full shift with us. She engaged with many young people out in the street on what was a very quiet evening.   Julie expressed her doubt about  the effectiveness of increasing the unit price of alcohol in reducing anti social behavior. She was genuinely seeking Inspiration for something that Government might do to reverse the trend of people drinking with the expressed intention of becoming hopelessly drunk. We had a very deep and thought provoking event with this very nice lady. 

The local village of Ainsworth held their annual community fair on the 28th and Suzanne our treasurer came up trumps when she baked dozens of cupcakes which children paid to decorate and eat. She even baked gluten free ones much to the delight of my coeliac grandson Bradley and many others.  The team that helped her were amazing too...

Adrienne and Brian Tonge

Left to right: The High Sheriff of Greater Manchester with Bolton Street Angel volunteers;  MP for West Bolton Julie Hillinge with Adrienne and Brian Tonge; Julie with Bolton Street Angel volunteers.