North Yorkshire Youth, (NYY) based at Carlton Lodge Activity Centre near Thirsk, hosted the Big Youth Sleep Out recently when nearly forty young people were sleeping rough onsite for the night. This was after hearing stories and listening to speakers talking about homelessness and the effects it has on young people at the their annual general meeting.
Panda, a NYY Youth Development Worker has put a Blog together to describe the night and how it felt to sleep out over night. Panda’s Blog – A night spent ‘homeless’ can be read on the Carlton Lodge website at:
https://www.carltonlodge.org.uk/blog/big-youth-sleep-out
Panda said: “Experiencing a night like this is a powerful way to understand the challenges and risk that homeless people endure every day. Our young volunteers taking part learned from young people, where they’ve slept rough, how abuse, mental illness and sexuality – which they have no control over – have made them homeless, how they wish things were different.”
The Big Youth Sleep Out was developed by the NYCC Youth Executive/VIP Team and is supported by North Yorkshire Youth (nyy.org.uk) and the following:
SASH ( a charity preventing youth homelessness)
Scarborough Homeless Prevention Team
Tesco Thirsk (who donated breakfast).
Compass Buzz (mental health and well-being across North Yorkshire)
David Sharp, chief executive said: “This initiative is making a huge difference to the young people we work with and helping their understanding that there are other issues to learn here as well as building rafts, jumping in the water, high ropes or the climbing wall.”