Young People

If you have nowhere to stay tonight, you might be able to stay with a host on the West of England Nightstop scheme. West of England Nightstop provides accommodation on a night-by-night basis in the homes of volunteer hosts.

  • Who are the hosts?
    • Nightstop hosts are vetted volunteers who have a spare room and are happy to offer it to a young person with nowhere to stay for the night
  • What can you expect from your Nightstop host?
    • Safe overnight accommodation
    • To be treated equally and fairly without being judgmed or discriminated against
    • Your own room
    • A listening ear if you need it, or your own space
    • An evening meal and breakfast
    • Somewhere to wash your clothes
    • Bath/shower facilities
    • A toiletry pack, pyjamas and a dressing gown
  • What you can expect from West of England Nightstop?
    • Information, at the time of referral about the house you will be staying. This will include who lives there and the rules of the house
    • Bus fare or transport to the host's house
    • Advice and support, including help in finding accommodation and/or filling in forms. You can contact the West of England Nightstop office directly if there is anything you need help with
    • Clothing
    • Somewhere to keep your belongings
  • The application process
    • The referral agency will fill in a form with you and carry out a risk assessment. It is important to be honest. All young people are considered on a case-by-case basis
    • The form is then faxed to the West of England Nightstop office where one of the Nightstop staff reviews the form and assesses which host to place you with. If we need any more information we will ring and ask you/the referral agency
    • Once we have agreed your stay with the host, one of the West of England Nightstop team will provide the referral agency the information required. It can take a little while sometimes to sort a placement but we treat all with the utmost priority
    • Once you have reviewed the arrangements and understand them, the referral agency will phone West of England Nightstop to confirm whether you are happy to stay there
    • You might need to get a bus there if we have no volunteer driver available, but you will have all the information you need and either the referral agency or West of England Nightstop will give you the bus fare
    • You will also have a contact number for West of England Nightstop, so if you have any problems you can phone and one of the Nightstop team will help you
  • Ground Rules
    • Each host has different rules in their house, e.g. for smoking etc. You will be given the individual host's ground rules ahead of being referred
    • There are some rules which apply for all stays arranged by West of England Nightstop
      • You must not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, other than those prescribed by a doctor.
      • You must not arrive late to the host's house. If you have any problems you can contact the West of England Nightstop out-of-hours phone number.
      • You must keep the host’s details confidential.
      • You must respect the rules of each household.
  • Other services
    • West of England Nightstop has recently introduced a new service to provide access to IT ad internet facilities to young people on the Nightstop scheme to help with searches for housing and employment. Please ask staff for details.