Hello - I am Paul Blakey MBE - below the intro from paulblakeymbe.com...
Paul is the founder / co-founder of: Street Angels; CNI Network; Love Your Streets #Do1NiceThing; #FaithAndPoliceTogether; Calderdale Chaplains; the4Ps; Jesus Loves Yorkshire. He is an author, broadcaster, communicator and popular international speaker.
They launched Halifax Street Angels in November 2005 a project which, with the help of an amazing team of volunteers, has made a massive difference in Halifax and over one hundred and thirty towns and cities across the UK and beyond. Street Angels has contributed to a reduction in violent crime and sexual assaults in many of the towns where the scheme operates and has contributed to a national annual reduction in alcohol related violence and A&E admissions. Because of Paul's contribution to community safety in Calderdale he was awarded a MBE (Most Excellent Member of the British Empire) in the New Years Honours 2010 by Her Majesty the Queen.
To accommodate the expansion of work within the night-time economy Paul and Jean founded the Christian Nightlife Initiatives (CNI) Network in July 2008. CNI Network acts as an umbrella organisation which supports, resources and celebrated the work of over one hundred and thirty local projects in towns and cities in the UK and overseas. This initiative has won support of many leading church leaders, denominations and organisations and in 2012 was awarded the Big Society Award from the Prime Minister. CNI Network is a leading voice for faith based projects working within the night-time economy. More information is at www.cninetwork.org.
Paul set up Love Your Streets and #Do1NiceThing as a way of promoting community social action. Paul is one of those involved in Festival Angels who work at Big Church Day Out, Boardmasters and Leeds and spends some of his summers in a field heading up detached teams! In 2017 Paul co-founded #FaithAndPoliceTogether a way of celebrating, promoting and encouraging faith communities to work with the police on policing priorities. Paul was also involved in the setting up of Calderdale Chaplains in Halifax's Piece Hall as a way for the church to be at the heart of this major new venue in Halifax - Paul has a heart to seek the peace and prosperity of places and to support and encourage others in this. Paul is also involved in the Jesus Loves Yorkshire - a trendy marketing campaign which plans to help churches across Yorkshire share this amazing message around the Tour de Yorkshire events.
Paul is an International Speaker and Communicator who has spoken to over 40,000 people over the last decade. He regularly shares the story of Street Angels to ladies groups, church groups, after-dinner, Rotary clubs, etc and is also able to deliver motivational talks within a church setting or within a workshop context. Paul is also available to help churches, community groups and local statutory agencies to explore new ways of meeting local needs.
Paul has an interest in the media and sees that as Christians we should be making the news not just watching the news! He features regularly on BBC, Premier Radio, UCB and has a portfolio of TV, radio and newspaper interviews. Paul is regularly found on social media (like his page on Facebook) and can deliver training and support to help organisations to get the most from this.
Paul is an author and has written the book "Street Angels - the amazing story from binge to better" which has sold over 3500 copies.
Paul is one of 33 assessors for the Queens Award for Voluntary Services.
Paul became a Christian in 1989 and believes in the regeneration of places (neighbourhoods, villages, towns, cities, boroughs, nations!) through faith and action. Paul is chair of trustees of Christians in Calderdale Schools (CICS), an Associate for Faith In Society, Trustee for ROC (Redeeming Our Communities), Trustee for Alliance of Town and City Chaplaincies and is part of the Calderdale Chaplains team working in Halifax Piece Hall. Paul and Jean also support various internationally ministries including Dario Martini (Brasil / Italy) and Sarah Leonard (Ricky Leonard Ministries, USA). Paul and Jean are members of The King's Church in Halifax.