UNIFORMED ambassadors are pounding the beat in Newport city centre.

The street ambassadors have been appointed by Newport Now, the organisation established by the Newport Business Improvement District initiative, voted for by city centre businesses.

Businesses and retailers within the city centre voted to establish a BID in 2015. The ambassadors scheme is one of the priorities identified by members which Newport Now is delivering.

The three-strong team of city centre ambassadors, two on the beat at any one time, are on duty and helping to keep the peace and promote a positive image of the city of Newport seven days a week, from 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturdays and 10am to 5pm on Sundays.

Newport Now manager Adrian Evans said: “A priority for Newport Now members, and as part of our proactive and progressive commitment to creating a more welcoming Newport city centre experience, we wanted to ensure that there was an overt, visible and reassuring presence on the street and so they have introduced a uniformed street ambassador scheme.

“The ambassadors role is to prioritise visitors and provide assistance to users of Newport city centre. They also help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, to provide re-assurance and assistance in dealing with the fear and threat of crime and to help make the BID area a safer and more welcoming place to live, work, visit and do business.

“The ambassadors will also aim to maintain regular contact with members of the business community and to assist in dealing with day to day issues in the centre.

“Ambassadors, who will be in place 365 days a year, will also ensure that the public open spaces within the BID area, the public realm, is safe and clean, that visitors are made to feel welcome, assisted and directed as requested.”

Gareth Gent, aged 49, and Mathew Collins, 32, are two of the city centre ambassadors. The pair each has a background working in corporate and retail security - an experience that they are putting to good use in Newport.

Mathew said: “I like to think that we act as a kind of health and safety for the city centre. We visit some businesses to check on how they are doing and see if they have any problems to report. We give a friendly wave to other businesses owners as we pass so that they can see we are out and about. They appreciate our presence in the city.”

Gareth said: “There are some who don’t yet ‘get’ the BID idea, or may be have recently opened in the centre or even weren’t fully behind the scheme form the start. We chat with these people, explain what the BID is all about and what we can do. I’m pleased to say that in a majority of cases we manage to win businesses owners over by telling them what we do or more often than not proving our worth by sorting out a problem or an issue for them which may have been happening for quite some time previously without resolve.

“We don’t have a set route, we patroI n the city centre but walk around making our presence felt by moving on people who shouldn’t be in the city centre, beggars for example and keeping in regular contact with the various security professionals working in the businesses and shops in the centre.

“It’s fair to say that we know most if not all the trouble makers in the city centre and work closely with the police, CPSO and Newport City Council safety wardens.

Gareth said: “There were well some known hot spots for shop lifting theft and anti social behaviour in shops and businesses in the city centre when we arrived and gradually we are working to help reverse this situation.

“We work in partnership and in collaboration with the businesses in the city centre, hearing their grievances and problems and advising them on what to do and, if we can, helping to resolve any problems.”

Mathew, who has an armed forces background, said: “We spot where trouble could happen and try to nip that in the bud. By talking all the time to businesses, retailers and shop keepers we build up a pretty comprehensive picture of what is happening in the city centre and also can act to prevent anything that may well happen.

“For example a shopkeeper will mention someone acting suspiciously and if they can give us a description we more than likely know the person and the kind of things that they may do. We can then issue a warning to ensure other retailers are aware of the potential problems.

But Ambassadors are not just involved in crime prevention but also about presenting a positive image of the city to outsiders and visitors and also being a source of information.

They can just as likely be offering directions, assisting the elderly, or mums and babies or giving a cheery smile.

The ambassadors draft a weekly report on their work, where they have been, what they have done and problems encountered and what needs to be assessed.

Newsagent Jonathan Powell, in High Street, is a voluntary subscriber to Newport Now. Jon, almost an unofficial ambassador for the scheme, said: “It is a great idea, definitely. The ambassadors create a good impression of the city centre and also deliver tangible results from helping to sort out problems for businesses to moving people on when they are posing a nuisance in front of shops or in doorways.

“Some businesses have queried what has been delivered by Newport Now and the Ambassdors scheme is one such example of positives of the scheme.”

Redlands estate and lettings agent owner Darra O’Flaherty experienced a few problems after recently locating his business to Griffin Street next to Newport Indoor Market.

Darra said: “The ambassadors have been a great help since I moved in a couple of months ago. I did have a few problems with kids hanging about in the street outside which was deterring passers by from looking in the window and seeing my property boards. This has now been resolved.

“The scheme is a good idea their visible presence on the street is very welcome.”