TOWNSPEOPLE are preparing to spend the night sleeping on the streets to raise awareness of a homeless charity for young people.

Safe and Sound Homes helps prevent young people from becoming homeless by offering them a room in the home of a volunteer.

The charity runs a service known as Nightstop that ensures young people are kept safe at night in an emergency, thanks to a network of volunteer hosts, who provide a bed for the night, an evening meal and breakfast the next day.

Volunteers taking part in the Pickering sleep-out on March 6 include members of the Guides, Pickering Youth Council, Explorer Scouts, church youth groups, as well as the mayor, Cllr Joy Andrews.

Organiser Joan Lovejoy said: “Youth homelessness in Ryedale, as elsewhere in rural North Yorkshire, is very much a hidden problem.

“Rather than sleeping on the streets, young people tend to ‘sofa surf’ with friends and relatives until they run out of options and finally seek help.”

Last year, Sash offered more than 600 nights of accommodation to vulnerable young people in North Yorkshire who needed somewhere safe to stay in an emergency.