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.

This is the third time Crown Paints have helped us. The last time was as part of the BBC’s DIY SOS programme for Children in Need in November 2019 – helping to transform St Silas Church Hall into accommodation for young people to stay with a living area, common room, kitchen, and bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms.

For the latest project Crown Paint’s team spruced up corridors, communal spaces and the six bedrooms at the Night Shelter, with volunteers working tirelessly alongside Nightsafe staff and other members of the community.

The colours were chosen by young people who are supported by Nightsafe and include clean and bright corridors, soft pastel colours in the bathroom and kitchen, and sophisticated grey feature walls and pops of colour in the bedrooms.

As well as the volunteers’ time, Crown also donated paint brushes, rollers and trays from their Crown Decorating Centre in Blackburn, along with more than 50 litres of paint – enough to complete the whole project.

Jan Larkin, CEO of Nightsafe, said, “We’re so grateful to Crown Paints for the continued support they’ve provided over the last few years. The centre looks fantastic now that most of the bedrooms and upstairs area have been painted. It’s now a bright and welcoming space for our young people – giving them somewhere they can feel safe and at home.

“As a charity this year has been particularly tough for us, with more pressure on our services but limited fundraising opportunities, so the fact that Crown has been able to provide the paint and manpower for this project made all the different to us – we quite literally wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

John Vause, Crown’s store sales development and trainer, co-ordinated the team of Crown volunteers on this project. He said: “We’re very proud to work with and support charities like Nightsafe especially in our home town. I know that the team involved enjoyed being able to get stuck in and make a real tangible difference to the project and see the transformation for themselves too.

“Nightsafe does an amazing job for our local area and we look forward to working with the team again in the future.”