In Blackburn, the fire and security installation firm Black Box has donated its time and expertise to Children in Need as part of its nine day DIYSOS Big Build to help the town’s young homeless who engage with Nightsafe.
Nightsafe is a homeless charity based in Blackburn providing services to homeless young people aged 16 to 24 in the Blackburn and Darwen borough. Nightsafe has four projects offering a variety of housing options and services to young people.
The Nightsafe accommodation centre offers immediate access for young people who have nowhere else to go. They can stay for up to nine nights, while alternative accommodation is found for them and they are linked into networks and services. The emergency night shelter is open from 5pm to 10am the next day, but they are now desperate for a new accommodation centre.
The project; renovating a local church, St Silas, which has kindly agreed to lease its centre to Nightsafe, to develop accommodation for vulnerable young people.
BBC Children in Need have been supporting Nightsafe with funding for a number of years to support homeless and vulnerable young people under the age of 18, by helping to increase their life skills and engaging them in education and employment to encourage stability in their lives.
DIY SOS is aiming to complete the conversion of the building for Nightsafe, at no cost to the church, local community or the charity. The renovation will be funded by donations of product and volunteers offering their time, all managed by the experienced BBC TV, DIY SOS team.
David Barnes, Managing Director of Black Box said: “We are thrilled to be involved in such a worthwhile cause which will deliver real help to those in need locally. Our team are on site to install the intruder alarm, door access and fire alarm system to ensure that once the build is complete, it is safe and protected for all who use it. A huge thanks goes to our team who are working around the clock to stick to the tight timings associated with the Big Build and also to our suppliers who have donated the hardware and kit to make this possible.”
