Desperate young people are being offered an alternative to sleeping on the streets of Middlesbrough with the creation of a new safe-house network.

Depaul UK’s Nightstop North East project pairs young people with volunteer families and individuals who have a spare room a vulnerable teenager can use for a night or more.

The initiative is based at the John Paul Centre, in Grange Road, which has established a reputation over many years for reaching out to some of the town’s most vulnerable people.

Charity Depaul UK, which has its roots in the Roman Catholic Church, is building on that work by introducing its own experience and expertise in the form of the Positive Pathways initiative.

The John Paul Centre aims to establish a support base for the homeless, ex-offenders, people in extreme poverty and refugees and asylum seekers, as well as the lonely, hungry and those who feel abandoned by society.

Positive Pathways development worker Terry Doyle is currently touring Catholic parishes throughout the town recruiting drivers and hosts for the project and is keen to speak to any other groups or agencies that would like to invite him along.

“I want to see Nightstop and Positive Pathways grow on Teesside,” he said.

“Many people would like to help but don’t think there’s anything they can do. But by becoming a volunteer host or driver or just by offering any food or unwanted clothing, they really can.

“So many factors can lead to homelessness – it’s not all about drink and drug abuse,” he said.

“More often than not it can be as the result of family break up, or where a young person’s family are at war with each other they might sleep anywhere other than the family home, which leaves them vulnerable.”

Terry is also planning a series of spiritual retreats to help homeless people begin to turn their lives around.

He said: “Positive Pathways is about working with people to empower and enable them to emerge from that rut. It’s about raising aspirations and broadening horizons.

“If we can give someone a better lifestyle and raise their sense of self-worth, we’re doing a lot to change that kind of mindset and reverse the downward spiral their lives are in.

“The work will be carried out alongside and in partnership with other important organisations providing excellent support across the town.”

 

• To find out more about Nightstop and Positive Pathways, contact Terry on 07436 103158, by email at terry.doyle@depauluk.com or visit www.depaulnightstopuk.org

 

For interviews with Terry or photo opportunities, please call Michael McGeary on 07967 023083.

 

Further Information:

Nightstop aims to ensure that every young person has an alternative to sleeping on the streets and last year provided 12,000 nights of accommodation nationwide.

The John Paul Centre is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough and is home to the Redemptorist community of Roman Catholic priests.

Terry Doyle is a trained spiritual director and Benedictine Oblate with Father Laurence Freeman’s World Community for Christian Meditation.

He is also qualified in various holistic therapies designed to enable and empower individuals to reach their potential and a well-known Tai Chi and meditation teacher, facilitating workshops and retreats across the UK.