A CHARITY that gives young people emergency accommodation to prevent them from having to sleep on the streets is appealing for volunteers in the Richmond area.

Nightstop, run by Safe and Sound Homes (SASH), is holding a recruitment campaign from the cafe in The Station, Richmond, led by volunteer Sarah Ware.

SASH is appealing for volunteers to offer an overnight bed, shower, evening meal and breakfast next morning for vulnerable young people who need somewhere safe to stay.

The Nightstop service is provided across North Yorkshire by trained SASH volunteers with a spare room who want to help young people aged 16 to 24 at a time of crisis.

“Youth homelessness is largely a hidden problem in North Yorkshire,” said SASH community coordinator Mrs Ware.

“Demand is growing for our Nightstop service, so we need to make sure we have enough hosts in all the right places, all the time.”

Mrs Ware is offering a cup of coffee at The Station in the town to anyone interested in becoming a Nightstop volunteer.

She is spending the first week of June in Richmond letting people interested in volunteering know what is involved.

Mrs Ware can speak from experience as she and her husband were trained Nightstop volunteers for three years.

She said: “It was easy - we just kept a spare bed made up and let SASH know what nights we were available.”

“All who stayed were polite and grateful. It was good to know they were not on the streets or in other vulnerable situations. We felt glad to have helped out when they were going through a difficult time.”

Mrs Ware now works for SASH, recruiting and training other volunteers to become Nightstop hosts, and will be in the Station between 10 and 11am from Monday, June 3 to Friday, June 7.

For more information visit www.sash-uk.org.uk or call the York office on 01904-652043.

Email sarah.ware@sash-uk.org.uk or call Mrs Ware on 07507-595240.