You will have heard of the butterfly effect.
The idea that one small occurrence can have a large and unpredictable influence on the future.
The concept is often imagined with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon.
In Perth, it was a simple fish supper that changed one man’s life.
Michael Archibald – the 80-year-old founder of Perth Street Pastors – bought the meal for a stranger while pounding the streets in his role 10 years ago.
He explains: “I was at a cafe a few weeks ago when I saw a guy who I recognised slightly.
“I sat down beside him and I said, ‘I kind of recognise you, tell me who you are’, but I didn’t know his name.
“Then he said, ‘I’ve met you before’ and I said, ‘Have you?!’
“He said, ‘It was 10 years ago, outside the pub. I was absolutely terrible that night. I was full of drink and drugs.’
“I told you, ‘Do not speak to me at all. Do not ask me any questions.'”
Act of kindness helped Perth man turn life around
It’s a night that Michael, a retired accountant, remembers well.
He recalls: “I didn’t ask him any questions – I never said a word to the guy.
“But I took him across to the chip shop and bought him a fish supper.
“He was just muttering and cursing, and then we got his fish supper and he was away. And that was all I knew about him.”
Upon meeting again 10 years later, the man told Michael how the random act of kindness made him realise “what a state” his life was in.
Michael said: “That night changed his life and he is now a college lecturer, so he has done alright.”
The stranger is just one of thousands of people that Perth Street Pastors has helped since it was launched in 2007.
The branch is made up of 25 volunteers from various churches across Perthshire.
It is part of an international network that spans the UK, USA, Africa and the Caribbean.
Members are out on the streets of Perth every Friday and Saturday night, lending a non-judgmental ear to vulnerable revellers.
Where necessary, they also hand out bottled water, foil blankets, lolly pops and flip flops – “to give people energy and help prevent injury”.
How Perth Street Pastors helped man on brink of suicide
Michael, who is a reader at Bankfoot Church Centre, says the group often helps people dealing with suicidal thoughts.
“One guy I remember – he came out of the nightclub on Canal Street and we walked up the lane and came to South Street towards the river.”
“He was determined to commit suicide.”
The volunteers, along with a member of the public, spoke with the man for some time.
Michael says: “We walked him up the street away from the river as far as we could get.
“Then he said, ‘You can leave me now’.
“As we were half way across the street he said, ‘Can I pray for you tonight?’
“In just twenty minutes he had gone from wanting to kill himself to asking to pray for us”.
But sometimes, the volunteers are just there to offer directions to the next pub. “That’s quite common,” Michael says.
They will also pick up glass bottles from the streets to reduce the chance of violence.
The nightlife scene has changed considerably over the last decade.
“The town used to be absolutely crawling on a Saturday night until 3am.
“There were hundreds of people about.
“Nowadays, there are 10 people about compared to the hundreds and the streets are empty after 1am.”
‘Young people are worried about the future’
But the group is far from redundant.
“I think Street Pastors is still very much needed.
“The youth, generally speaking, in our area are very uncertain about the future.
“There is nothing guaranteed about the future, nothing guaranteed about their job, nothing guaranteed about their pay – nothing guaranteed about anything.
“With war and climate change, they are worried about the future. So they are quite happy to speak to someone.”
Although the organisation is rooted in Christianity, Michael says it is not about converting people to the religion.
“We are not mobile evangelists – that is not what this is at all,” he says.
“We don’t hand out any written stuff – we are just out to listen and to care and to help.”
At 80 years old, I ask Michael what keeps him motivated.
“I have enjoyed every minute of it,” he says.
Perth Street Pastors ‘puts faith into action’
“I have always been passionate about putting faith into action. I am not interested in sitting in a pew and discussing the problems.
“I would rather be out on the streets and doing something about it.
“And that is what we are doing with Street Pastors.”
Conversation