Nightstop Devon wins prestigious national award

We are delighted to be able to announce that Nightstop Devon who are affiliated to Depaul Nightstop UK have been awarded the Guardian Newspaper Charity of the Year Award for 2011. One thousand charities entered the awards this year so for Nightstop to win is great recognition for the local voluntary sector as a whole.

Judges included actress Jane Asher, Dame Suzi Leather (head of the charity commission), Baroness Howarth of Breckland OBE and Lynne Berry OBE, associate of Civil Exchange. Prizes include £6,000 and tailored packages of support from the Media Trust and the Foundation for Social Improvement. Dame Suzi Leather said

"Nightstop Devon is an absolutely brilliant project and we wanted to recognise the fantastic match of public generosity for this really vulnerable group of people"

Nightstop Devon has a team of volunteers who provide a room for the night to youngsters (aged 16-25) who would otherwise be facing a night on the street. Most young people who use the scheme are homeless due to family breakdown and have never been in a similar situation before. Nightstop aims to provide the practical support that vulnerable young people need at this crisis point. This helps to ensure that they do not get sucked in to a cycle of rough sleeping and the increased risk of mental and physical health problems, isolation, drug and alcohol use and crime that being homeless can bring. In the last year, Nightstop arranged over 500Nightstop placements for 171 young people in the local area.