A safe place to stay for young people facing homelessness
On average, we help 300 young people avoid homelessness, each year.
Young people who need our help are referred to us by Local Authorities and other agencies. You might not realise they are homeless because they tend not to sleep rough – although some do. Mostly, they are sofa-surfing or staying in other unsafe places. This puts them at risk of dropping out of education, losing their job, or of abuse by those they are staying with.
In 2019 Centrepoint found that 73% of young people had sofa surfed because they had nowhere else to stay. 30% were physically abused and 68% of young people felt unsafe whilst homeless.¹
When someone is referred to us the first thing we do is offer them a safe place to stay, in the home of a volunteer host. But that is just the start. To make a difference for the long term, we have to work closely with each individual and their host and often bring in other sources of support.
Our Nightstop project offers immediate help at a time of crisis and support to find somewhere permanent. Our Supported Lodgings scheme gives us time to work with a young person for longer and provide more intensive support.
Our aim is to make a lasting difference to each young person, so they will never have to experience homelessness again.
¹No Place to Stay: experiences of youth homelessness, Centrepoint 2019 report
David's story.
When David split up with his girlfriend, he had no-one to turn to and ended up on the streets. SASH helped him turn his life around.
Seen someone rough sleeping?
If you are concerned about someone you have seen sleeping rough, please send an alert to StreetLink via their website.
View our Complaints Policy here.
