Nightsafe urges businesses to join new Patron Scheme to aid young homeless

Nightsafe has been supporting young homeless people across Blackburn with Darwen and wider Lancashire over three decades – and now we're calling on generous businesses to join our new Patron Scheme.

The scheme has been launched to address growing demand and rising costs for our charity, whose services were accessed at least 24,000 times in the last 12 months by young people at risk.

We are appealing to businesses across the region to become Patrons – asking for pledges of £1,000 upwards – to ensure we can continue to give young people facing homelessness a safe place to turn to and the opportunity to improve their lives.

Our services are critical, providing not only a night shelter for emergency accommodation, but also a day centre providing hot meals and clean clothes, and six housing projects across Blackburn with Darwen which give young people the opportunity to have a new start in life.

Each year we provide over 15,000 safe nights off the street each year, offering vital support to the vulnerable aged between 16 to 25.

Each of our locations are staffed by dedicated support workers and volunteers, making additional financial funding crucial.

Over the years, we have seen the cost of running our essential services skyrocket to over £1million a year. Despite the team's efforts, the charity is facing a budget deficit.

Jan Larkin, our Chief Exec, said that although we are based in Blackburn and Darwen, our support extends across East Lancashire.

The young people we help often arrive with nothing more than the clothes on their back. Your donations will help us continue to provide free, essential services and enable these young individuals to take back control of their lives.

There are three Patron levels:

• Hero Patron (£1,000 – £5,000)
• Champion Patron (£5,000 – £10,000)
• Legacy Patron (£10,000 upwards)

All patrons will receive a number of benefits in return for their support – from social and digital coverage, to personal visits from the team to thank the company for their support.

Ronnie, who now works in the emergency night shelter, has his own personal reasons for supporting the charity.
He said: "I came to Nightsafe when I was 16 due to a family breakdown. I attended Platform 5, the day centre, from the ages of 16 all the way up until I was 21.

"The staff and volunteers would offer you all sorts of different support – from food parcels, to helping with benefits, housing, doctors, dentists, banking; they helped you with everything. They were essentially like parents, if you never had parents to help you with that sort of stuff.

"Without Nightsafe, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I owe my life to Nightsafe."

To find out more and pledge your support visit https://nightsafe.org/become-a-patron/ or email patron@nightsafe.org.