Nightsafe

Nightsafe

Nightsafe has been supporting homeless young people since 1990 and it was their 30th anniversary last year.

So far, they have

Helped over 14,750 young people
Prevented over 43,000 nights on the street
Provided over 150,000 meals

Nightsafe is a charity that offers young people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, somewhere to go, somewhere to stay and someone to talk to. Blackburn with Darwen, where Nightsafe is based, is an area of high deprivation and is rated in the top 10% of areas of deprivation in the country (Lancashire County Council 2019 deprivation analysis).

Nightsafe supports young people aged 16-24 via the following areas:

EMERGENCY NIGHT SHELTER

Their emergency direct access Night Shelter allows young people to self-refer and stay for up to 9 nights in a clean, welcoming and safe environment where they have access to laundry facilities, food, bathrooms, a lounge and separate single bedrooms. Young people accessing the shelter are provided with move on support following a holistic assessment to determine their needs. The night shelter is staffed with a team of 6 full time international volunteers who are generally the same age as our residents and offer an informal peer support service to the young people accessing the shelter.

ACTIVITY BASED DAY CENTRE

The shelter is complemented by an activity-based day centre (Platform 5) located within the same building. Here they provide information, advice and guidance on a number of subjects including housing, wellbeing, education, employment and training opportunities, laundry facilities, a shower, hot drinks and meals, life skills education sessions and positive activities such as arts and crafts, football and sport sessions. The daycentre is a daytime drop in service that can be accessed by shelter residents, homeless young people, young people living independently in the community and residents from other housing projects.

SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION PROJECTS

Nightsafe has four supported accommodation projects: Witton, Cornfield Cliffe, The Gatehouse and Safe@Silas. Young people, who would otherwise be homeless, can stay long term and receive support from a key worker with a bespoke support plan. Nightsafe also has a specialist under 18’s LEAP support worker (Lifeskills, Education, Aspirations Project) who liaises closely with schools and training providers to ensure that young people maintain their educational goals and reach their potential even whilst experiencing crisis.

VOLUNTEER MENTOR PROGRAMME

Nightsafe has a volunteer mentor programme that provides a listening ear and befriending service, offering support for young people to attend external services and appointments, advocacy and goal setting/planning tailored to a pace that suits the individual. Volunteer mentors support young people across all their projects and helps to increase positive move on plans and individual goals.

OUTREACH SUPPORT

Nightsafe offers an outreach floating support service in the community, supporting a number of individuals to maintain their tenancies and ensure positive health and safety outcomes and personal opportunities such as education and training, budgeting support etc.

£100K APPEAL

Due to COVID-19 all their fundraising events have been cancelled and some of their funding streams have been deferred to an unknown date. Due to this, in April they launched their £100K Appeal. They have received tremendous support from communities across East Lancashire and are constantly looking at how they can keep everyone informed of their work.

They are currently looking for funding to support the following.

Platform 5 Day Centre and Emergency Night Shelter:

£2:50 would provide daytime support for a homeless young person for 1 week
£5:00 would provide a young person with 3 meals a day
£5:00 would provide each young person with their own personal hygiene pack
£10:00 would provide one emergency food and hygiene parcel for a young person
£20:00 would double their Daycentre weekly food budget

£40.00 would provide a young person with a safe bed for 1 night

Housing Projects:

£5:00 would provide a young person with 3 meals a day
£15:00 would provide a young person with 1-1 support and guidance for one week
£20:00 would provide home schooling for a young person for one week

If you are in a position to support Nightsafe in any way, please get in touch with Mrs. Sargent.

Please scroll further down the page for a powerpoint presentation by one of our School Councillors about Nightsafe. The powerpoint includes a link to a clip of how BBC Children In Need supported Nightsafe quite recently.

How we've supported Nightsafe so far...