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Campaigns"Nightstop's a great idea for young people. I just want to thank Nightstop for helping me through this tough time."
Exeter Nightstop provides emergency accommodation for young homeless people in the homes of volunteer hosts on an overnight basis, where they are provided with clean, safe accommodation and a warm meal. All volunteers receive full support in the form of 24-hour round the clock on call back up, together with training for their role. The project users benefit from support in finding longer term accommodation and are linked in to appropriate support services. 75% of Nightstop's referrals are for young people aged 16-19, most of whom become homeless through family conflict, divorce and abuse. Without the support they receive from Exeter Nightstop they are at risk of isolation and of losing links with their community. They are also particularly vulnerable to offending and substance misuse and may form inappropriate relationships or even move into prostitution. Both their physical and mental health can suffer through living in an unsafe environment and eating a poor diet.
Exeter Nightstop successfully applied for a Local Network Fund grant of £1,896 to run a publicity campaign. The aim of the campaign was to recruit new volunteer hosts needed to meet an increasing demand in the City. In order to attract volunteers the group felt it was important to convey that they were a professional, well run organisation. They felt this important image would be reflected by professionally produced materials. Following their grant from Devon Community Foundation the group was featured on BBC Spotlight and as a result of the campaign as a whole 36 people came forward as new volunteers.
"We have been very impressed with the Nightstop team so far. The training was sharply focused whilst being friendly and fun. Particularly useful was the presentation on legislation which was quite an eye opener and also the presentation on possible scenarios. This brought home the complexity and diversity of situations young people find themselves in and the urgency with which they need to be dealt with." Volunteer
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