Not all heroes wear capes: A night with Maidenhead's Street Angels

Maidenhead Street Angels have been around for 15 years - but what does it take to be one? Chief reporter Adrian Williams tagged along with the team one dark night to find out.

I’ve known about the Street Angels for a long time – one of the first articles I ever wrote was about them. But until I went out with them on a mild December night, I never realised how little I knew about all they do.

You might know the Street Angels as the people who hand flip-flops out to women on a night out who’ve had enough of their high heels, thank you. And yes, they do that – but they do so much more.

Nationally, the Street Angels launched in Halifax in 2005, backed by Churches Together and the YMCA, and developed with police support in response to town centre nightlife problems.

The Maidenhead Street Angels will have been going for 15 years this year – and Brian Belcher has been a member for going on 12 years.

Before we went out, I watched Brian assemble a backpack as big as him filled with bottled water, sick bags, and yes, flip-flops, as well as bits and pieces for homeless people. The Street Angels will give them sleeping bags and blankets, and will buy someone a hot meal or drink where needed.

Brian also had pockets stuffed full of lollipops, which I questioned.

“It’s sugar in the body [to mop up the alcohol] but it’s also an icebreaker,” said Brian.

As a child, I’d always been taught to avoid strangers with lollipops, but I suppose context is everything.

Fellow veteran Street Angel, John Clegg, picked up his walkie-talkie and checked in with the CCTV room, who can help if the Angels spot trouble while out and about.

But often, approaching in the spirit of helpfulness is enough to diffuse a tense situation. The Street Angels uniform lets people know they’re a group, which can help too.

“We’ve learned from our mistakes,” said John. “I was with a group one day and all four of us approached a guy sitting on the bench late at night.

“We said, ‘Are you okay?’ And he went, ‘Well, I was, until four guys came up to me.’ We told him what we were doing and he calmed down a bit.

“So, we learned from that one person approaches the rest hold back, then a second one can go in for support while a third one stands back and watches, making sure the other two are OK.

“If we come across a situation with a female, it’d be ideal for a female [Street Angel] to approach,” he added.

The Street Angels prefer to have mixed-sex groups, but this can be a challenge; that night, there were no female Street Angels available. There are fewer of them in total – three, compared to seven men.

“We’d love ladies to come forward,” said John.

I asked, OK, what makes a Street Angel, then – what are they looking for?

“Christian values with a small c is the best way to put it,” said John. That is, someone of any faith who wants to do good in the world.

The individual Street Angels come from a variety of churches and denominations. They ‘don’t evangelise’ on the street, though they are happy to answer any questions.

As we began our circuit through the town centre under twinkling Christmas lights, Brian and John got talking to the doormen of the various pubs, checking in.

I was struck by the mutually trusting and friendly relationship – and with food vendors and taxi drivers too, since the Street Angels will sometimes need to put someone in a cab home.

John and Brian spoke to me about the huge range of things they’d seen in their time as Street Angels, and how they navigate some of the trickier situations, including women in need of help.

Sometimes the man she is with can be behaving possessively, and the Street Angels might follow from a distance to get a clearer sense of the situation before contacting the authorities.

Both John and Brian looked perfectly comfortable walking around the town at night, and seemed to have developed an intuition for the difference between noisy good-natured banter and an uncomfortable situation developing.

I quickly saw that Brian was right about the lollipops. The expression of every person would turn from slight suspicion to pure delight as they received one.

But to my surprise, not everyone was suspicious at all. What struck me was how often the pair were recognised and greeted warmly by people all over town.

It speaks, I think, to what a powerful positive presence the Street Angels have built up over the past 15 years.

Meanwhile, people who hadn’t seen them before often reacted with unbridled enthusiasm to hear what Brian and John do.

It would be hard to put words on how touched people clearly were by the knowledge that there were volunteers out there with the sole purpose of helping them, should they need help.

Just to don a high-vis jacket and be with them is to be showered with praise and admiration I’ve done nothing to earn – but no doubt, Brian and John have.

I have no lurid details of fights or crimes in Maidenhead from that night. As far as I could see, the atmosphere was happy, festive and cheerfully well-steered by the hands of Maidenhead’s pub doormen.

When I met up with the Street Angels at the beginning of the evening, Brian joked that I was ‘a brave man’ for coming out with them.

But the real bravery is in those people who show up in all weathers and stay until the wee hours, never knowing what they will find, yet determined to help just the same – willing to talk to everyone, and treat everyone with kindness, respect, diplomacy and compassion.

A few people we met expressed an interest in joining up, though the grape gave them some overly confident ideas about how best to help.

I hope that the idea stays with them when they sober up, because I can’t imagine a better use of someone’s spare time than to join the Street Angels.

Jeanette Lock, chair of trustees, said: “In 2026 Maidenhead Street Angels will be celebrating their 15th anniversary.

“The first Street Angels team took to the streets of our town on February 11, 2011 with the official launch attended by Theresa May.

“Since then we have had a presence in the town on Friday and Saturday nights, looking out for anyone in need.

“New Angel volunteers are always welcome to join us. In the words of one of our longest serving Angels, ‘All you need is a heart for people and the ability to walk and smile.’”

If you want to find out more about becoming a Street Angel, contact: stangelsm@hotmail.co.uk