West of England Nightstop Hosts
The people who volunteer as hosts for West of England Nightstop are the project's greatest asset.
- Who are they?
- Nightstop hosts are normal people performing an extraordinarily valuable service to the community
- We welcome hosts from all sections of the community and hope to reflect the diversity of the city in West of England Nightstop
- What do we expect from our hosts?
- To provide safe, warm overnight accommodation for the young person
- To treat the young guests equally and fairly without discrimination
- To introduce the young person to the household and make them aware of routines, etc
- Be tolerant but able to set boundaries on behaviour
- An ability to listen attentively to young people without needing to tell them what to do
- Be welcoming and warm without encouraging dependency
- What can hosts expect from Nightstop?
- Training
- Ongoing support, including 24 hour on-call support when a young person is staying
- A host handbook with up-to-date policies and procedures
- A guarantee never to put you in a position where you feel uncomfortable or unable to say no
- Reimbursement of all out-of-pocket expenses
- Assurance that all referral agencies are familiar with the process and have completed a thorough risk assessment of the guest
- A regular host social event!
- Interested in becoming a host?
- Clearly, the safety of all involved is paramount so mandatory checks and training are required
- The West of England Nightstop staff will come and visit you for an informal discussion and answer any questions you might have
- You will need to complete an application form and provide two references
- We will carry out a home assessment
- Legislative checks are conducted
- 2 sessions of 2.5 hours training is required, normally on consecutive weeks. Contact us.