Brighton charity to feature in TV documentary

Sussex Nightstop helps homeless young people in Brighton and Hove to find a place to stay.

More4 is to broadcast Would You Take In A Stranger?, a 50-minute film, at 10pm next Tuesday (July 11), featuring a volunteer host and a young homeless person in the city.

Dandi has been using emergency accommodation with Nightstop – led by national homelessness charity Depaul UK – for three years. She has been staying with Sussex Nightstop hosts, on and off, since she was 16.

Dandi, 21, said: “I went to a youth project and said that I had been kicked out and did not know what to do. So they sent me to Nightstop and a little house in Hove.

“I don’t want to be miserable. I want to be happy so I am not going to let my problems get to me. I have been questioned by a youth worker about whether I was actually homeless or not – just because I was well-presented and smiling. To not have a home feels very frustrating, stressful and a bit lonely.

“I get very worried: ‘Am I going to stay on the streets tonight? Or is someone else going to help me tonight and I will be safe?’”

Dandi is filmed pointing out the covered benches on Brighton and Hove seafront where homeless people often sleep.

“I see a lot of people rough-sleeping in those shelters,” she says. “It is too open for me – too out there. They can easily see I am a young person and vulnerable. I would not feel safe there. I am always relying on people [for somewhere to stay], on my friends. Even if they say no to me, I will ask them again.

“I have never had to rough-sleep but I have had to think about it because I have been near to the point where I have had to and saved at the last minute. If Nightstop did not find me a place tonight, I would try to stay awake till tomorrow just to make sure I am safe.”

In the documentary, Sussex Nightstop, which has its headquarters in St. George’s Place, Brighton, found her a place to stay with volunteer host Ruth.

Ruth, the Nightstop host, says: “I have a spare room and while the room – I know it is only a box room – is sitting there, I am really lucky I can offer that to somebody.

“I have two girls, Ella and Nina, who are grown up. It was me and the cats for a while. That wasn’t all right! I don’t like an empty house.”

Dandi is seen in the film happily staying at Ruth’s home and talking about her family and chatting and laughing with Ruth.

After her stay with Ruth, Dandi says: “It feels sad to leave people when you have made a connection.”

And Ruth reveals: “Six years ago I had cancer. That was really, really hard – I nearly died. I have been given a chance. I am lucky to be here and, if I can help people, that’s great!”

Director Ben Freedman filmed in the Brighton area over a period of months to make the documentary, which also features Nightstop services in Newcastle and Devon, and will be screened at 10pm on Tuesday, July 11.

Sussex Nightstop Manager Poppa Green said: “The use of spare rooms in a welcoming and nurturing home is a lifeline to young people in crisis.

“In the last year we have provided more than 700 bed-nights for 80 plus young people who were facing homelessness.”

Nightstop provides a safety net to those unable stay at home, placing young people in a safe and warm home for the night, provided by a trained volunteer, it prevents young people from sleeping rough or staying in unsafe places where they would be at risk.

The More 4 documentary will be broadcast from 10pm on Tuesday, July 11, and will be available to view for a month afterwards on Channel 4 catch up.

To find out more about becoming a volunteer host for Sussex Nightstop, call Olivia on 07788318905 or email [email protected]