Votes still needed as charity in semis

4:32pm Tuesday 1st July 2008

REDDITCH Nightstop has reached the semi-finals of The National Lottery Awards 2008 and will now battle it out for the chance to win £2,000 and the opportunity to star in a special BBC1 TV show.

Nightstop is one of only 10 projects to make it through to this stage in the Woman magazine Award for Best Charity/Voluntary Project category and readers are being urged to show their support as their vote could make all the difference.

Redditch Nightstop was set up in 1997 to provide overnight emergency accommodation for young people aged 16-25 in the family home of approved volunteers.

Volunteers - all of whom undertake special training - are ordinary people who are willing to share their homes on a temporary basis to help young people in need.

The project also offers practical support and can help young people to find a more permanent place in secure accommodation.

Lottery funding covers the wages of four staff and the cost of providing training courses in mediation. The centre also runs an education programme for children and young people that tackles the realities of homelessness.

Gillian Groom, from Redditch Nightstop, said: "We're really pleased to have reached the semi-finals. Lottery funding has made a real difference to our project and has helped us to develop and grow. We're really hoping the public get behind us and vote."

Public voting for the semi-finals ends at noon on Friday, July 4. To register a vote for Redditch Nightstop call 0845 386 2805 or visit the website www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/award.

The three projects in each category with the highest number of votes will go through to the finals and appear on a BBC1 Saturday night show later this year.

Editor's Choice