YMCA Ripon Sleep Easy Event
 
This Friday will see the second YMCA Ripon Sleep Easy event taking place on Ripon Market place 7pm – 7am. In 2018 we saw 10 volunteers take part in the event raising the vital funds for YMCA Ripon and helping to raise much needed awareness of youth homelessness.
 
While there is recognition from the public that homelessness is going up, new research from YMCA England and Wales has found that just one in four young people who are homeless (26%) believe the public care about youth homelessness. When thinking about themselves and their personal situation, even fewer young people who are homeless believe the public are concerned. Less than one in five homeless young people (19%) believe the public care about their situation.
 
We want YMCA Ripon’s Sleep Easy event to be a way of showing young people who are homeless that the public do care about them and that they are trying to tackle the problem of homelessness by raising vital funds.
 
Lucy Gratton, CEO at YMCA Ripon said ‘Our tenants come from a variety of backgrounds and many have had a challenging upbringing. Whilst we don’t see a big number of people sleeping rough on our city streets we do see a number of young people who find themselves sleep on sofas at friends’ houses ‘sofa surfing’, sleeping in tents, cars and garden sheds. We work with the young people to support them from dependence to independence through 1:1 sessions, group work and activities.
 
This year we see 24 volunteers who will be bracing the cold and sleeping rough so others don’t have to. We welcome individuals from a variety of professions and background such as local café owners and employees, bank staff, retail assistants, local Councillors, primary schools staff and many more. With their support YMCA Ripon can continue to help young people find a safe place to stay and access the tools they need to rebuild their lives. One night can make a lifetime of difference. If you would like to support the volunteers please sponsor them via https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/riponymcasleepeasy
 
YMCA Ripon is a standalone charity governed by local trustees who aim to provide safe, supported accommodation for people aged 16 – 35yrs. YMCA Ripon offers 18 single occupancy rooms supporting young people holistically means we provide not only a bed but also help a young person gain the training, skills and confidence to go on to lead independent lives.
 
For more information visit www.riponymca.org phone 01765 607609 

We want to recruit and train a small number of adults who can provide 1 to 1 support to our tenants. We expect a buddy to meet with a tenant regularly; to go to the coffee shop, take part in an exercise class or help the tenant volunteer. A buddy will be trained to provide appropriate support and will meet tenants in a public place.    ​

Description of the role:
The role of a volunteer buddy is to:
- Provide one to one or small group support to young people to promote their independence and integration into the community
- Build safe and trusting relationships with young people to increase their support network and reduce loneliness
- Be a positive role model to motivate, inspire and raise young people's aspirations
- Encourage participation in a range of positive or volunteering activities to increase independence and confidence in self
- To provide written feedback after sessions to ensure open and transparent communication with staff and other support workers
- To share ideas and feedback to the team to ensure that opportunities for activities are relevant and meet the needs of the individual
- To attend relevant training for the role
- To carry out the work in a non-judgemental way
- Be open and honest about own challenges whilst buddying and be able to reflect and feedback about the scheme

Skills and qualities needed for the role:- Good communication and interpersonal skills when working with others
- Self-motivated, reliable and organised
- Active listening skills
- Ability to relate to young people and establish rapport
- Relevant knowledge and experience to be able to provide the right level of support – e.g. youth work, teaching, mentoring
- Good level of written communication skills and ideally experience with writing supporting statements, CVs and applications
- Ability to use questions and constructive feedback to enhance service development
- Flexibility
- Patient with a positive attitude
- Empathetic and understanding of the issues young people face
- Supportive and encouraging
- Able to inspire, empower and motivate young people
- Able to help young people develop to reach their potential
- Willing to take on a challenge and make the project a success

What is in it for me?
- Gain experience and transferable skills with working with young people, those with mental health challenges or those facing isolation
- Receive training and support to develop skills and awareness of young people, safeguarding and homelessness
For more information or an application for please contact us. 
This role will require a DBS check as you will be working with young people and vulnerable adults. We will only select volunteers who are able to provide the qualities above, and have a positive and non-judgemental attitude. Full training and support will be given. 

We are seeing lots of press and information about universal credit, homelessness and mental health in young people. However often people dont think that these issues are affecting people locally in Ripon. 
In November for Children In Need BBC 3 showed Stacey Dooley The Young and Homeless. We felt that this was a good representation of the situation locally. If you want to see what its like to be young and homeless, then please take a look on I player or You Tube.