
Harry Lee, 13, one of Nightsafe’s Youth Ambassadors, sleeping in his bath tub for the Nightsafe SleepIn
Next month, 5-11 October, marks World Homeless Week. More specifically, Saturday 10 October marks World Homeless Day – a day to show solidarity with homeless people and those who help them.
Nightsafe, a Blackburn-based charity which supports homeless young people across East Lancashire, is inviting people to show they care by sleeping somewhere other than their own bed for the night in exchange for a donation on 30 September.
The monthly Sleep In – which coincides with the charity’s 30th anniversary year and takes place on the 30th of each month – has seen people sleep in their bathtubs, under their beds, in dens made from sofa cushions and in a tent in the garden.
Jan Larkin, CEO of Nightsafe, said: “World Homeless Week aims to raise awareness of the issue facing those who have found themselves with nowhere to call home for a wide range of reasons. This could be due to a number of reasons family breakdown, unemployment or so many other issues young people are facing today.
“Tragically, Lancashire has a growing issue when it comes to young people who are homeless. Every day we come across dozens of youngsters aged 16-25 who are sofa surfing at their friends’ houses, or even living on the streets.
“When you think about the difficulties we have faced this year and the Government guidance to stay home and save lives – these homeless young people have nowhere to call home. They don’t have the option to wash their hands for 20 seconds. They don’t have the creature comforts many of us take for granted.”
Nightsafe was established 30 years ago this year after identifying a need for support for this vulnerable age group. Sadly, the support we offer – hot meals, washing facilities, halfway housing etc – is more in need now than ever before.
Jan added: “Covid-19 has hit our charity hard. We have £100,000 in funding to find this financial year to ensure we can continue to put a roof over the heads of those most in need, and food in the bellies of those living on the streets.”
To find out more visit https://nightsafe.org/events/sleep-in-for-nightsafe/
PHOTO: Harry Lee, 13, one of Nightsafe’s Youth Ambassadors, sleeping in his bath tub for the Nightsafe SleepIn.
Without the help of our supporters, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.
Thank you to all our #NightsafeHeroes.
Recent Articles
11 year old James, running 150K for Nightsafe
This isn’t the first time James has taken part in fundraising events for Nightsafe. Having listened to his friend BeBe talk about the charity and how it supports homeless young people as well as taking part in the Stonyhurst Sleep-In last year, James decided he wanted to create his own personal challenge to raise money for other young people who are not as fortunate as himself.
BIDS for limited edition Nightsafe Adidas trainers reached over £551
BIDS for limited edition Nightsafe Adidas trainers reached over £800 when they want under the hammer recently. In 2019, 160 pairs of the green and red ‘Blackburn’ Spezial trainers – colours which represent the red rose of Lancashire - went on sale at a special exhibition in Blackburn.
Crown Paints bring colour to Nightsafe’s night shelter
Crown Paints lent their support to Nightsafe - with a generous donation of paint and equipment as well as time towards our charity’s refurbishment of the emergency night shelter. The team of six volunteers from Crown, based in Darwen, joined a further six from Blackburn Round Table, giving up their time over the course of a weekend.
Kris runs 100 miles to help Nightsafe raise £100K
Kris Connolly is putting his best foot forward – after pledging to run 100 miles in October to raise money for Nightsafe, a youth homeless charity. After a long period without training, Kris, 30, the new Vice Captain of Typhoons RUFC, set himself the challenge to get himself ‘match fit’ and raise money for a worthy cause in the process.
Scouts give up their beds to raise cash for homeless charity
East Lancashire after taking part in Nightsafe’s Sleep In. Dave Mellor, Scout Leader, said the unit took part after being told about the Blackburn-based charity by Harry Lee – one of their members and Youth Ambassador for Nighsafe.