Rockhampton nightwatch chaplains save thousands of East St partygoers

“People are alive today because of what our patrols have done and what our members have intervened with.” Here’s how Rockhampton’s nightwatch chaplains have helped thousands of East St revellers.

Dylan Clendinning and the Nightwatch team at Rockhampton's Nightwatch team have helped thousands of locals during their night out on the town.

They’re people who have saved the lives of local partygoers, but they’re not police officers or ambulance paramedics.

Chaplainwatch’s Nightsafe crew in Rockhampton patrol the CBD streets in cars and on foot on Friday and Saturday night’s prepared to lend a hand to those who need it.

Rockhampton team leader Dylan Clendinning said last year they helped about 2000 people.

The Rockhampton Nightwatch team also recently opened their rest and recovery centre on East St where patrons can be taken to help sort out all sorts of issues from working out how to get home or if they’re feeling unwell.

Dylan Clendinning and the Nightwatch team at Rockhampton's Nightwatch team have helped thousands of locals during their night out on the town.

“Most people that come out for a night out in East St have a great night, 95 per cent enjoy their time here - Rockhampton has a fantastic night-life culture,” he said.

“We believe everybody deserves access to a chaplain when they need one, someone to lean on, someone to give good guidance and someone to help them non-judgmentally when they need.

“We really look after that five per cent that might get themselves into a bit of strife on a night out and naturally in the presence of alcohol and drugs that’s always going to be a little bit higher in this space.”

He said on an average weekend on the town, they got between 20 and 30 people asking for their help.

“We’ve done some incredible jobs over this past year - people are alive today because of what our patrols have done and what our members have intervened with,” he said.

Dylan Clendinning and the Nightwatch team at Rockhampton's Nightwatch team have helped thousands of locals during their nights out on the town.

“People also have more dignity because of what we do, they’ve had that vomit bag instead of vomiting in the gutter, they’ve had that bed to rest on instead of lying on the cement and they had someone to be there when it really mattered.”

Mr Clendinning said one of the most common things that people came to them for was brainstorming a way they could get home safe.

“One of the most common things we see is people looking for a way to get home, often people lose their phone or their wallet or they spend a little bit too much,” he said.

“This (Rest and Recovery Centre) is a great place for them to come and problem solve how we can help, because in reality we don’t want people walking all the way out to Gracemere.

“It’s pretty dangerous and we don’t want people falling asleep on a park bench.”

Chaplainwatch Nightwatch crews are spread all across Queensland including areas such as Gladstone, Bundaberg and the Sunshine Coast.

“We have patrols that intentionally intervene to help people so we can make sure everyone is having a safe night out and safe way home,” Mr Clendinning said.

“This can look like a lot of different things but it really comes into two groups - the first one is prevention so crime prevention and safety hazard preventions, and the other is response.

Dylan Clendinning and the Nightwatch team at Rockhampton's Nightwatch team have helped thousands of locals during their nights out on the town.

“In the prevention space our members make sure there’s no glass bottles around and make sure there’s no hazardous litter people can step on or use as a weapon and make sure the precinct looks clean.

“Response is when something happens in the precinct our members respond to.

“It can be anything from problem solving a way to get home to doing first aid for people intoxicated or people injured.”

The frontline service has also met with Rockhampton Regional Council to make recommendations on how Rockhampton’s Safe Night Precinct can be made safer by doing things such as making the lights brighter and having toilets open.

Chaplainwatch’s Rockhampton Nightwatch Rest and Recovery Centre can be found at 161 East St and the service can be called on its hotline which is 0478 817 000.