A HOMELESS charity is marking its ten-year anniversary by launching a “Sleep Safe” campaign.

It will raise awareness of the many young people in Sussex at risk of homelessness, often as young as 16 years old.

Government data for 2017 illustrates Brighton had the second highest level of recorded rough sleepers in the country after Westminster.

Brighton-based Sussex Nightstop provides a safety net for young people, preventing them from becoming homeless.

The charity matches vulnerable young people aged 16 to 25 with volunteer hosts who put them up in their spare room, on a night-by-night basis.

This gives the young person a safe space to resolve their housing problems, so they don’t risk spiralling into long-term homelessness or the dangers of rough sleeping.

The “Sleep Safe” campaign is urging people to help alleviate this often-hidden problem of youth homelessness by supporting Sussex Nightstop’s work.

It will also raise £10,000 towards developing and delivering services to young people including the recruitment and training of more volunteer hosts.

Executive director Alison Marino said: “I am delighted to be celebrating our ten-year anniversary.

“The achievements accomplished through the efforts of our local volunteers and the Sussex Nightstop team cannot be underestimated. However, there is more work for us to do. We see first-hand the increasing and deepening challenges that young people face with regard to securing a safe and stable place to live. We need to continue to be there for them.

“We have tasked ourselves in providing a service that supports a range of different needs and we want to develop our volunteer host pool, both in numbers and skills. All of this will enable us to reach more people and move towards our goal of offering a safe bed night every night.

Sussex Nightstop is calling on commercial organisations and the community to get behind them.