The Halo Foundation has assured the Street Pastors Antigua and Barbuda Branch of its commitment to the advocacy and support of this non-profit organisation.
Earlier this week, Street Pastors was officially recognised as one of over 30 charities under the patronage of the Governor General, HE Sir Rodney Williams and HE Lady Williams.
In a release, Sir Rodney commended the Co-ordinator of the Antigua and Barbuda Branch, Mr Barry Sebastian on the meaningful work of the group, despite constant challenges and limited resources.
“Aiding and enabling the homeless is a formidable effort. The Street Pastors’ squad of more than 30 strong in Antigua is certainly playing its part through distribution of food and other necessities, while attending to the spiritual well-being of those with no fixed abode. It was this important focus upon the preservation of dignity and humanity, that led me to present Antiguan and Barbudan Rev Les Isaac, Founder of Street Pastors, with the Governor General’s Diaspora Award (UK) in 2017,” Sir Rodney remarked.
“Our young team, Generation Y, has already taken to the streets to assist with the work of Street Pastors. We have promised that this will be a regular activity, and will be supplying food for distribution at least once per month. There are also other medium and long term projects that are currently under discussion. If, at the end of the day, we have managed to alleviate the hardship of the homeless and destitute in any way, we would have achieved our objective,” Lady Williams added.
Street Pastors was pioneered in London in 2003 by Antiguan and Barbudan Rev Les Isaac, OBE. Its purpose is to “provide a Christian presence on the streets in local communities in order to listen, care and help”.
In addition to the United Kingdom (where there are over 9,000 trained volunteers), international branches operate in Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Nigeria, Ireland, Gibraltar, and the Channel Islands and Australia.