Youth homelessness charity Depaul UK is calling for people with spare rooms in their homes to volunteer to become Nightstop hosts – and be trained to accommodate and look after a young person for a night.
Last year, 600 households across the UK gave up their spare rooms to help more than 1,200 young people who might otherwise have been out on the streets.
Senior Nightstop Network Manager Ian Forster said: “Today is World Homeless Day and what better way to mark the day than by contacting Nightstop to take the first step to becoming a host!
“An estimated 80,000 young people in the UK experience homelessness every year. Last year, the Nightstop network provided 9,885 beds for a night, so young people had a safe place to stay. Now we urgently need more hosts to meet demand for the service.
“As nights get longer and the winter begins to set in, the prospect of sleeping rough is increasingly grim for young people with nowhere to go. They often end up putting themselves in dangerous situations and at risk of abuse. You can make a difference to this situation today.”
Depaul UK – supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery – leads the national Nightstop Network, and directly runs five of the services in London, the North East & Cumbria, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Hertfordshire.
Nightstop provides same-night, emergency accommodation, placing young people experiencing homelessness, or at risk of homelessness, in the homes of well trained and vetted volunteer hosts.
The Nightstop Network comprises 31 services covering a geographical area from Glasgow to Guernsey.
All Nightstop hosts are vetted and given training and support to ensure that they, their families and the young person who stays with them are appropriately safeguarded.
Volunteers are in control of how often they would like to be available to host and have the flexibility to choose which days they would like to welcome someone into their home.
Find out more about volunteering for Nightstop: www.nightstop.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer or call 020 7939 1220.
Find your nearest Nightstop service: https://www.nightstop.org.uk/find-your-nearest-nightstop-service
