Chapelhouse donates £10,000 to Nightsafe

Chapelhouse is delighted to announce a new partnership with Blackburn-based charity, Nightsafe. 

Nightsafe works to alleviate the plight of homelessness and poverty among young people in the Blackburn and Darwen communities. Nightsafe believes that every young person has a right to a roof over their head, to live in a safe environment, and to be treated with kindness, dignity, and respect.  

Nightsafe provides housing and safe spaces for vulnerable young people, some of which are run entirely by volunteers. 

The Emergency Night Shelter is just one of six Nightsafe housing projects across the Blackburn with Darwen Borough.  

The Night Shelter is open 365 days a year, from 5pm until 10am the following morning. It accommodates up to five homeless young people at a time, who are provided with a bed, breakfast and evening meal for up to nine nights. Shower and washing facilities are also available.  

Some of the volunteers that help run the Night Shelter come from all over the world. At present, there are three from Colombia, two from South Korea, and one from Mexico!

The Shelter, located at the Boulevard Centre in Blackburn, is one of several housing projects run by Nightsafe. 

The other Nightsafe housing projects around the Blackburn region include Platform 5, The Gatehouse, Cornfield Cliffe, the Witton Project, and Safe@Silas. 

The Safe@Silas project was built in 2019 at St Silas Church in Blackburn on the DIY SOS Big Build for Children in Need show. 

Nightsafe also organises events to help raise awareness around the many issues and difficulties that surrounds young people sleeping rough each night in the Blackburn area. They teamed up with Blackburn Rovers Community Trust at the end of last year to host 'The Big Sleep Out 2022'. 

Rovers supporters, community organisations and local businesses were encouraged to participate in spending the night on the concourse beneath the Darwen End of Ewood Park. 

It was back in 1987 when the Nightsafe story first began. The plight of young people who were sleeping on the streets and sofa surfing was identified by a group of committed youth workers and local politicians. 

Nightsafe's first major grant was awarded in 1990 - £36,000 from Comic Relief, which funded the purchase of the first Night Shelter on Bridge Street. It first opened its doors later that year. 

The Witton Project was opened in 1992, as a response to the number of very young people presenting as homeless in the area. The large terraced house, which is close to Witton Park, is used by 16-18 year olds who have agreed to be involved in training, education, volunteering, or employment programmes. 

Jan Larkin, Nightsafe's current CEO, joined in 2012. With Jan's extensive knowledge and expertise in youth housing, she helped the organisation develop robust and secure accommodation for those who need it, laying the foundations for the high-quality service that Nightsafe provides today.

It isn't just shelter and accommodation that Nightsafe provides. LEAP (Life skills, Education and Achievements Project) supports people aged 16-24, giving them access to a wide range of workshops to enable them to develop their confidence, self-esteem and independent living skills. 

Young people who are referred into the emergency Night Shelter are supported on a one-to-one basis during this highly distressing time. All young people receive a LEAP Assessment, and an action plan is drawn up.

LEAP also offers support around making housing referrals and opening a claim for Universal Credit. 

Young people are supported with 'starter packs' when they move on, typically these consist of essential items to help them sustain their education such as pan sets, cutlery, crockery, and basic cleaning products. 

The initial funding for the LEAP project was awarded to Nightsafe in 2014 from Children in Need. 

Now, 36 years on from that very first meeting in Spring '87, Nightsafe is still going from strength to strength.  Over those years, Nightsafe has helped a whopping 14,750 young people and taken them off the streets for a combined 43,000 nights! 150,000 meals have been served and thanks must go to those 850 volunteers who have helped since Nightsafe's inception. 

For more information of Nightsafe's projects, or to read the amazing stories from young people that they've helped, you can visit www.nightsafe.org.