Lichfield Nighstop - Host Information
| Published: 16th August 2007 21:15 |
Common Questions and Answers
1. What kind of people Volunteer as Hosts?
Nightstop Hosts are ordinary people who want to reduce the problems associated with homelessness amongst Young People and who have a room, which can be used to keep a Young Person off the street for a night.
Any household grouping can apply to be Hosts, and would be assessed through an acceptance and vetting procedure. The only people who would automatically be excluded are those with criminal convictions against Young People.
A good host is someone who is tolerant but willing to set boundaries on behaviour, is accepting and able to listen to Young People without telling them what to do, and who is warm and welcoming, making people feel at ease without becoming so close that the Young Person becomes dependent.
2. What are Hosts expected to offer?
A volunteer host is committed to providing a Young Person with a warm welcome, a room for their exclusive use for the night, access to a bathroom, an evening meal and breakfast, and the opportunity to wash their clothes.
Accommodation is offered from the evening through to the next morning. Hosts are expected not to leave the Young Person alone in their house and are given the choice of when they wish to make accommodation available. The host will be prepared to listen to the Young Person and will offer immediate support and encouragement, but will not be expected to provide counselling or professional help.
Young People using Nightstop are often extremely vulnerable. Many have just left home under difficult and even violent circumstances. Becoming Homeless at a young age is confusing and painful, calling for sensitivity on the part of anyone offering help in the form of emergency accommodation.
A good host is aware of the challenges involved in accommodating young homeless people and is able to minimize the risks to everyone concerned.
3. How often will you want me to put someone up?
The Hosts may offer as many or as few nights as they wish. Each month they will be contacted to specify their availability for the month, though this can be changed if necessary. Some may have a room, which is only available at term time, while a son or daughter is away at university, others may have regular commitments, which mean they are only available on certain evenings. The aim of Nightstop is to provide a service, which enables volunteers to support and help Young People.
4. What training will I get?
All Nightstop volunteers will be offered training on a variety of topics. A day's training on Nightstop, and sessions on Child Protection and Working with Young People will be considered essential elements to becoming a volunteer, however there will also be optional training sessions made available to all volunteers, such as First Aid, and Negotiation Skills. All training will be free of charge to our volunteers. Nightstop training will include a chance to speak with volunteer Hosts from another Nightstop.
5. What support will I get?
Support will be available both through the local scheme staff and through networking with other volunteers. Whenever a host is accommodating a Young Person, they will have access to 24-hour telephone support and an on-call support team. There will be regular opportunities for volunteers to come together in order to exchange ideas and experiences. There is also a £10 out of pocket discretionary expense payment to help towards food costs and so on (this payment wouldn't affect the benefits a 'host' was entitled to if they were claiming any).
Further Information
Our Hosts are all volunteers who offer to give a young homeless person, between the ages of 16 and 25 years, an evening meal, the opportunity to bathe, wash their clothes, a bed for the night and breakfast the next morning.
Wendy Whitehouse and Nichola d'Urso are the Lichfield Nightstop Project Managers and when we refer a Young Person, we will arrange a convenient time for the Young Person to arrive and what time they would need to leave the next morning.
Young People will always arrive with a Nightstop member of Staff who will have given them a welcome pack consisting of basic essential toiletries.
Some of the Young People may have special dietary requirements, for example, vegetarian or may need to follow a special diet for medical or religious reasons. This will be investigated as far as possible during the referral process.
Hosts are asked, before starting to accommodate Young People, what special needs they are happy to cope with. For instance would a host be comfortable accommodating a Young Person who is know to suffer from a special medical complaint such as epilepsy or diabetes, or as already mentioned a Young Person who has special dietary requirements.
We ask that Hosts will provide privacy for the Young Person. The bed provided for the Young Person should be in a room, which is their own to use during their stay. Young People should not be asked to share a room or offered a couch/camp bed in the living room used by members of the household. Some Young People may wish to spend a large part of the evening alone in their room. The host should not be concerned about this or feel that they are not 'getting on' with the Young Person. Some people may need time alone to think through their problems.
Different Young People will spend their evenings in different ways. A host should not feel that they have to adhere to a certain routine when accommodating Young People, nor should they feel that something is wrong if the Young Person wants to go out for the evening. Some Young People have maintained links with friends and would like to go out and see them. However Hosts make it clear to the Young Person before they go out what is an appropriate time to return, so that they do not come back after the family has locked up and gone to bed. Some Young People will wish to watch television or listen to music, or perhaps they will be tired and would like an early night. Often, the offer of a bath or a shower and the opportunity to wash clothes, will be readily accepted by the Young Person.
Sometimes the Young Person may just wish to talk. Although we do not expect the host to be there in a counselling role, the availability of a "listening ear" may well be appreciated. However, under no circumstances should Young People be asked intrusive questions about their lives or be pressurized to share more information than they are willing to give voluntarily.
The Nightstop accommodation should be provided in a warm, friendly, respectful and supportive atmosphere and Hosts are asked to be flexible, considerate, tolerant and sensitive to the wishes and needs of their guests. Hosts are asked to do all they can to ensure the well-being and comfort of the Young People using the Nightstop scheme.
We do not encourage Hosts to give money to Young People. However, a Young Person may need bus fare in the morning, in which case, the host should give the appropriate amount, which will be reimbursed to the host on completion of the expenses form.
Our volunteer Hosts are ordinary people with a spare room. They are sympathetic to the needs of young homeless people and are willing to do their bit by helping them to stay off the street at night.
The volunteers specify how often and when they host.
We also supply a form for Hosts to fill in. We ask that these are returned as soon as possible so that we can keep our information and support as up to date as possible.
SOUNDS RISKY TO BE A VOLUNTEER?
Obviously such a scheme requires that a host consider carefully the difficulties involved. For our part, Lichfield Nightstop does the following:
- Any Young Person who is referred to a host will have been carefully vetted, to the best of our ability. At no time will a Young Person who is under the influence of drugs, alcohol or any other substance or who has a recent known history of violence or sexual crimes be accepted onto the Nightstop scheme.
- There will be 24 hour on-call support for all our volunteers. We will provide as much information as possible to the host, but this must be respected as confidential. We offer advice and support from all our staff and committee members.
- Arrange basic training to the host, and also on-going training.
- Arrange social and formal meetings so that experienced Hosts can share experiences with new Hosts.
AND PLEASE REMEMBER - the Young Person needs protection also, which is why we run a police check on volunteers and insist on complete confidentiality from staff and Hosts.
For more information email Nichola.Durso@midlandheart.org.uk or visit the Nightstop UK website at www.nightstop-uk.org
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