Street Angels

by Paul Blakey

This lady had walked nine miles from the motorway junction along bleak unlit and rural roads in the drizzle into the town centre. She was upset and fairly vocal at first in telling us to go away (not quite that polite!) Only when she had no options seemingly available to get home did she sit down and begin to cry at the reality of her situation. As we walked her back to the cafe she was upset and angry and swore plenty and was verbally abusive to others passing by on the walk. As she entered our cafe she totally changed; I have never seen this before or since, but she went from a vulgar young woman to a very pleasant well spoken lady. She told us she was a solicitor and of her involvement in church as a teenager and that she didn’t quite know what she believed. As she left for her taxi home she said, in a very posh voice, “May God bless you all this Christmas!”

Street Angels is the story of ordinary Christians putting the command to 'love your neighbour' into practice. They show through many hours of voluntary work on the streets of our towns and cities that we can still make a difference in our communities.

Much of the news we hear about night life in our towns and cities is about unsocial behaviour and violence. So it is heartening to be able to read this story which, though not in any way diminishing the impact of harsh realities, tells of faith, hope and love.

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2013

About the author

Paul Blakey MBE - born 1974 in Halifax and a follower of Jesus. Founder of Halifax Street Angels in 2005 and CNI Network in 2008. I was awarded a MBE in 2010 for my contribution to community safety in Calderdale.

Along with my wife Jean we have supported around 130 projects to work in local communities at night and my first book tells the amazing story of Halifax Street Angels and the expansion across the world along with several local stories.

www.facebook.com/streetangelsbook
www.facebook.com/cninetwork