Initially it was easy to make a difference as far as the admin was concerned since they hadn’t previously employed anyone with the appropriate skills. So the rota was made available online and a weekly update was sent to all volunteers. As I said easy peasey. Then I had to start the actual street pastor training. The training takes place on one Saturday each month and can be completed in a year. It’s a rolling timetable so if you miss a session you can pick it up next time. During my time at the Co-op I had received all kinds of corporate training; I was astonished that street pastor training was equal to anything I had received professionally. You can go out with a team as an observer at any time, to go out as an actual street pastor you have to complete 4 full training days 2 of which must be the compulsory subjects. It was important for me to get out with the team as soon as possible; I needed to become experienced quickly so that I was no longer the cuckoo in the nest. On my first night out in Rusholme, we met a homeless guy originally from the Chez Republic. He was an amputee using crutches. I was really concerned that he was sleeping rough but a friendly community support officer whispered in my ear that he was, in fact, a street robber and the fastest thing on crutches that he had ever seen. This was going to be a steep learning curve! On my next venture out we were walking along Wilmslow Rd, near Whitworth Park, when we came across a homeless man in a wheelchair. We talked for a while; he had been a Christian but had lost his battle with alcoholism. We gave him food and drink before moving on. When we passed later on the wheelchair was still their but empty. From that moment on he was called Lazarus. Lazarus became one of our regulars but sadly we haven’t seen him for a while now and we have no idea where he is. Another homeless man refused our offer of food and drink but requested a copy of The Guardian, of course we obliged. A lot of our work involves the homeless. You get to know the regulars and you worry if you do not see them for a while. But we were becoming aware of bigger issues down the road in Fallowfield…….. The students!