Newry public take homelessness to their heart
Local charities Simon, Women’s Aid and St Vincent De Paul which work with the homeless in Newry were recently presented with over twelve trolleys worth of food donated by members of the public during a recent overnight sit out by local young people to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness locally.
Over 80 young people mainly from communities served by Barnardo’s Newry Young People’s Project took part in the 26 hour sit out on Hill Street in Newry last month to highlight the trend of ‘sofa surfing’ among young people and also to raise the profile of services available to help.
The donated food was presented to the three local charities at an event held in Newry Arts Centre and attended by the Mayor Michael Ruane.
Fiona Lynch from Barnardo’s NI said, “We are very proud of the young people who took part in the sit out. The idea and motivation came from them and they were delighted with the response from the local community who donated not only all the food for the homeless charities, but also the sofas for them to sit on.”
The young people would like to thank the funders: Newry & Mourne District Council, Department of Social Development, Health & Social Care Trust, Barnardo’s Young People’s Partnership and the Southern Education & Library Board and also all the local business and organisations who supplied food and warm drinks.
Any young person affected by homelessness can contact the Gateway Service T: 0800 7837745 or the Regional Emergency Social Work Service T: 028 9504 9999.
Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=37788