TERRIBLY polite voices ring out through the air on one Bournemouth’s most notorious streets.
Walking up Roumelia Lane come the Boscombe Angels, not the sort of folk usually seen on this reputed drug-dealing hotspot.
They are grey-haired Christians who give up their Saturday nights two or three times a month to patrol the streets until as late as 5am.
They keep an eye out for the drunk, the lost, the scared and the vulnerable.
The group was set up two years ago at the suggestion of the police and is run independently by Churches Together in Boscombe.
Virtually all the members gathering tonight are of retirement age or older and Beryl Gray, 82, has become their undoubted star.
She is a member of St George’s Methodist Church and says: “I was amazed the young people were so friendly and just wanted to talk.
“What else stood out was seeing the way the young people were dressed. You just can’t believe that they dress like that.”
The Angels meet up at the Regeneration Office to stock up on essentials like sterile gloves, bottles of water and wipes.
There are eight people here tonight, all full of praise for the young people they meet.
Kate Harris of Corpus Christi, said: “They are just amazing. One or two might not be behaving themselves but there’s no threat to us, they are just great.”
Geraldine Elliot-Smith of St Andrews Church says: “Maybe I think the fact that we are mostly older females, smallish and non-threatening helps.
“We are a sort of surrogate granny when we are on the streets. We are not the police. We are small and offer them lollipops.”
There is a plan behind those offerings – that no-one sucking a lollipop ever started a fight.
Although one young man would ask that night: “Are you trying to stop us taking drugs by putting lollipops in our mouths?”
The Angels do not try and stop fights.
But they hope their presence encourages a relaxed atmosphere, especially as people queue to get into the O2 nightclub.
Geraldine says: “I think it’s very difficult to measure what doesn’t happen. But the police did feel that the number had fallen since we were out at night.”
Their forte is helping young clubbers in distress – like walking a lost girl back to her hotel after a bust-up with her boyfriend.
They once helped a young man who was unconscious outside TJ Hughes wearing just a t-shirt in temperatures of -5C.
Kate Harris said: “He would have died of hypothermia.”
Out on the streets they get smiles from the unlikeliest of characters.
A drunken young man sways around near Sea Road while holding a glass of Courvoisier brandy and asks who they are.
He tells them with a mix of bravado and sadness: “I need an angel in my life. I am the devil right now. I’ve got an ASBO for a year.
“There’s no reality in life these days, it’s all naked girls and drinking. I need someone to guide me to the straight path.”
He wanders off, beckoned over by two shifty characters in a doorway near the entrance to Roumelia Lane.
On Christchurch Road, curious teenagers near a cash machine ask who they are.
They crowd around for photos and the little meeting seems to put them all in a good mood.
One, Bournemouth University student Nic Nicolaou says: “It’s always nice to know somebody is looking out for you.”
Their deterrence factor is at work too.
A youth angrily throws a traffic cone, picks it up to start again, then his shoulders sag sheepishly when he sees the Angels walking past, and he stops.
The clubbers queuing for the 02 sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Beryl. They want to know if she has her own Facebook page.
Kieran Duncan, one of the security staff says: “People still have a misconception about door staff, and if people have got a problem they will tend to go the angels and ask.
“They look after the welfare of people and I think they do good.”
The Angels go out several times a night in teams of three or four, never for more than 45 minutes at a time, and have an early shift and a late shift.
Usually the men stand back and keep watch while the women talk. They do not bring up religion but will talk about it if people ask.
The group are so pleased at the response they get that they focus on Boscombe’s good side almost to the point of having a blind spot.
Carmel Keens from Corpus Christi said: “I think the area is much better than I was led to believe from its reputation.
“I have never seen any evidence of drug dealing. I saw worse in Lausanne in Switzerland.
“And I was absolutely taken aback when a girl asked for a condom and all I could give her was a lollipop.”
But perhaps it is for the best they simply take people as they find them.
Tonight they meet two individuals known to the Echo, one a suspected drug dealer and another a violent shoplifter.
The Angels chatted very amiably to both without suspecting anything.
Kate Harris noted: “We are there for the whole of humanity. It’s not matter of picking and choosing. Everyone is our calling, if you like.”
The group are looking for new members and you can visit boscombeangels.co.uk or email boscombeangels@gmail.com.
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