A Pendle councillor and football goalkeeper visited SafeSpace in Nelson on Tuesday ahead of a Sleepeasy event in Barnoldswick this weekend.
Coun. Paul White and Barnoldswick Town goalkeeper Lyle Davy met young people affected by homelessness to gain a greater understanding of what life is like when having a roof over your head from one night to the next is far from guaranteed.
On Saturday night, the pair will be joined by Leader of Pendle Council, Coun. Joe Cooney, Earby councillor Jessica Spence and family and friends for the Sleepeasy in Barnoldswick Town Square.
The group are looking to raise as much money as possible by sleeping on the streets with proceeds going to the YMCA, who will spend it on homelessness projects in Pendle, specifically targeted at young people.
After visiting the charity, Mr Davy said: “Paul and I have learnt so much throughout this project.
“There are so many misconceptions about homelessness. You imagine its people sleeping on the street, its much more than that.
“The big thing for me, particularly where young people are concerned, is that it can happen to anyone, and when they are the same age as me it really hits home. SafeSpace have helped people from absolutely all walks of life.”
Coun. White added: “I think that society pigeonholes homelessness, and the whole project has been such an eye-opener for me.
“With young people it can be family disputes, relationship breakdowns, all sorts of issues. The work SafeSpace do is outstanding, and so many of the people they have helped have gone on to live life to the full.
“By meeting these young people, I could tell by the way they talked about SafeSpace how much love there is for the place.”
The twitter hashtag is #SleepEasyBarlick with the event taking place this Saturday night.
It is sponsored by Silentnight and the LBS group but you can sponsor the team too or find out more at www.sleepeasybarlick.co.uk.
