THE funeral of Edna Arnold, the former Tory councillor who founded Blackburn’s Nightsafe refuge for the homeless, has taken place at the town’s Cathedral.
Edna, alongside Paula Kanuik established Nightsafe in 1990 in response to the identification of increasing numbers of young homeless people in Blackburn with Darwen.
Throughout its existence Edna has been a committed supporter of the charity, being actively engaged in fighting for the rights of young people. She devoted every Boxing Day to attending the open door party and frequently advocated on behalf of the charity and service users at the highest level. She was never afraid to challenge the status quo and her work as a trustee and subsequently Life President is demonstrated to this day in the quality and scope of services we offer.
2015 – Nightsafe Celebrated 25 years of work with young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so. We had a great celebration event at Ewood Park – ‘ Bit of Doo’ and an anniversary Sleep Out in The Mall when we were visited by Storm Desmond!
Sadly we lost founder member Paula Kanuik one of the founders of Nightsafe and our CEO for over 20 years, Paula’s contribution to the work of Nightsafe and the positive impact on the lives of young people cannot be put into words. Her passing was a great personal and professional loss to many not only in Blackburn but across the world, she truly touched the lives of everyone she came into contact with.
In her memory we launched the Paula Kanuik Art Fund which we will use to enable young people from Nightsafe to have the opportunity to explore their talents in creative arts, an area of life Paula both enjoyed and encouraged.
2017 – Record £12,000 raised from Sleep Out in The Mall
Edna will be sadly missed by all at Nightsafe but we will be working to ensure her legacy is protected and built upon.
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