To celebrate 10-years of supporting vulnerable young people who are at risk of long term homelessness, Sussex Night Stop has launched #SleepSafe. The campaign aims to raise awareness of young people who are at risk of homelessness.
Sussex Night stop is an organisation that goes above and beyond to provide accommodation for young people between the ages of 16-25. They do so through the generosity of the community, who volunteer a spare room. This spare room offers the young person a safe space from which to resolve their housing problems so that they don’t risk spiraling into long-term homelessness.
Liz, who is a Nightstop Host explains:
“Most of us our concerned about the growing plight of young people who cannot rely on having somewhere to sleep every night. Being able to offer them a warm welcome, a hot meal and a bed so that they feel safe is such a rewarding yet easy thing to do. As hosts we’ve seen ourselves the positive difference Sussex Nightstop makes to the young people who have stayed with us and we hope that the Sleep Safe campaign will help Nightstop to continue to be there for young people when they need it most”
Sleeping rough has a considerable and chronic negative effect on young peoples mental and physical health, education, ability to find and keep work and relationships. Since Sussex Night stop began ten years ago, they have matched 3000 bed nights to 345 young people. These beds have a huge positive impact on these young peoples lives, with 90% of the people using the service going on to secure safer, more suitable housing. You can find out more about Sussex Night Stop on their website.
In support of this vital work Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has been providing Home Safety Visits to the Volunteer Hosts, to offer advice and smoke alarms to help reduce risk and keep everyone in the community safe. The partnership has given Sussex Nightstop access to the best expert advice, which has helped the Team achieve best practice in this area, ensuring Sussex Nightstop clients can #SleepSafe.
Alison Marino, Executive Director of Sussex Nightstop, says of the
partnership:
“Working in partnership with East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and being able to access their expertise has meant we are confident in meeting best practice in this area. We look forward to this partnership continuing and on behalf of Sussex Nightstop and all our Volunteer Hosts who have taken up the additional home safety visits – a big thank you to the Fire and Rescue Service and their Safe and Well Advisors”.
