Salisbury Street Pastors clock up 40,000 hours out and about
Volunteers patrol the city centre at weekends
The Salisbury Street Pastor scheme is celebrating - after hitting a significant milestone.
They've now had volunteers patrolling the city centre for a total of 40,000 hours since setting up in September 2009.
The service sees people going out at weekends - every Saturday and the first and last Friday night of each month - and supporting those that might need a little help during their evening out.
That could be in the form of directions, a bottle of water, a pair of flip-flops for aching feet, or just someone to talk to.
Co-ordinator Brian Percey told Greatest Hits Radio how the scheme's expanded since it started 13 years ago:
"We started with 27 Pastors and we now have 40 Pastors and scores of prayer pastors. Over the past 13 years support has increased from an initial 10 churches to more than 26 churches."
The Street Pastors work alongside the police, Wiltshire and Salisbury City Councils, the city's Pubwatch scheme, Salisbury BID, the CCTV operators and charities to help people have a safe night out.
The team have also carried out patrols in Amesbury in the past, as well as special services to coincide with more people being out to celebrate exam results or Bank Holidays.
Brian Percey is the co-ordinator and told us about one woman who they helped:
"On one night, the group managed to prevent a woman in huge distress from throwing herself into the river to end her life. This was done by listening to her, hearing of her difficulties and trying to offer a way forward."
It's estimated the Street Pastors have has 45,000 conversations with people during their time on the streets of Salisbury.
They've also given out 3,000 bottles of water, 4,000 pairs of flip-flops, attended over 1,000 anti-social incidents and picked up 20,000 empty bottles.