A SLEEPOVER is being held in Helmsley on Friday to raise awareness of a homeless charity for young people.

The sponsored event, in support of the charity SASH (Safe and Sound Homes), has been organised by All Saints Church for anyone of school age and above to mark World Homesless Day on Saturday.

Starting at 9pm with Compline (ancient night prayer), there will be a number of activities including a talk from a member of SASH, before hot chocolate and bed.

At 8am the following morning there will be a simplified version of Morning Prayer followed by bacon butties.

Annika Dowson, one of the organisers, said: "At the end of August I took part in a ‘pilot’ sleepover at the church to make sure that it would be suitable for people to come along to if we decide to do this event and I found it rather spiritual, and calm."

SASH helps prevent young people from becoming homeless by offering them a room in the home of a volunteer.

The charity runs a service known as Nightstop that ensures young people are kept safe at night in an emergency, thanks to a network of volunteer hosts, who provide a bed for the night, an evening meal and breakfast the next day.

This enables the young people to access the help they need to resolve their problems, so that a time of crisis does not lead to long-term homelessness and unemployment.

Annika said: "We want to support SASH because they do a fab job in the area, supporting teenagers in difficulties, having a sleepover is our way, as a church, of raising awareness and money for this important work to happen."

If people would like to support the sleepover, which takes place on Friday, they can do so by registering as places are limited. Anyone is welcome to come along to Compline and listen to the talk from the SASH representative and a donation would be appreciated. The church will be open for these people to leave up until 11pm. The other option is to sponsor the event – this can be done direct to SASH sash-uk.org.uk

For more information or to register people, email Annika Dowson at annikadowson@ymail.com or Reverend Tim Robinson at tim.robinson123@btinternet.com, or phone 01439 770983. Participants must make contact 24 hours before the event.