A warm welcome, your own space and a safe night’s sleep
If you’re aged 16-25, have a connection with Brighton & Hove and are homeless (including sofa-surfing), worried about becoming homeless or rough-sleeping, we can help.
Sussex Nightstop provides emergency accommodation in the form of welcoming homes, provided by our volunteer hosts who are not only kind and caring, they’re trained to provide genuine respite. And while you stay, we’ll link you up with other services to support you and help you find a more permanent place to live.
"IT WAS A RELAXING AND AN EASY-GOING ENVIRONMENT."
Our service includes a warm welcome, a room to yourself, an evening meal, washing facilities, breakfast, a packed lunch if you want it and company, or a bit of space – whichever you need. Our co-ordinators set everything up for you and connect you to the services you need, liaising with housing advisors who can help you find safe and suitable accommodation. We also have an on-call service if you need it.
"THE BEST THING WAS HAVING MY OWN SPACE."
Meet our hosts
Our service coordinators are here for you
Accessing Sussex Nightstop
We welcome referrals from our approved partners, including Brighton & Hove City Council, YMCA Youth Advice Centre (YAC), Social Services (Children’s Services), The Hummingbird Project, Change Grow Live (CGL) and Pastoral Care teams from authorised educational institutions. We can’t accept self-referrals.
The Brighton & Hove City Council offers support and advice by phone, online and in their housing drop-in sessions which run from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at Bartholomew Square, Brighton, BN1 1JE.
Call 01273 29 44 00 (Dial Option 1) for more info or email [email protected]
Q&A
In the words of young people who’ve stayed with us, the Nightstop experience is: consistent, helpful, humanising, supportive and positive.
“I received every kindness that I sought. Hosts always open the door with a massive smile. That is so key. Being warm, friendly, knowing your name and expecting you really helps to put you at ease. First impressions are really important.”
Our hosts are described as everything from really nice to amazing, and also welcoming, empathetic, kind, genuine, compassionate and open-minded.
Guests tell us that during and after their stay, they felt safe, happy, comfortable, relaxed, relieved and hopeful.
“My stay with Nightstop really helped a lot, gave me time to clear my head. A decent place to sleep takes a lot of the stress off your situation. It was nice that the people where really welcoming and made you feel really welcome.”
Nightstop guests are often nervous about staying in a stranger’s home. But it’s short-lived. Our co-ordinators place guests with hosts they know they’ll get on with and all of them are experienced, well-trained hosts who know how you’ll be feeling. Being nervous about that first meeting isn’t just for young people too. It’s a leap of faith for our hosts, but they put that aside and focus on being good hosts.
“I was apprehensive but it was fine once I got there. They were very welcoming and made me feel safe.”
We protect the anonymity of all our guests. But we always ask for feedback and suggestions on how we can improve and the only one we’ve ever had is “get more hosts, so more people can benefit” which says a lot about what we do.
“Being made to feel welcome in a family environment was a beautiful feeling and really helped me.”
You can see host pics and videos on Instagram
Over 25?
The council is the place to go for adults who are homeless or sleeping rough. They offer support to people who have a local connection (have lived in the area; work here or have family here) to Brighton and Hove. Additionally the Street Support Network is a directory of homeless services connecting people and organisations locally.
LGBTQ+
Sussex Nightstop is a service for everyone. Around a quarter of young people experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQ+ and we work closely with our LGBTQ+ partners in the city to meet their needs.
Worried about a rough sleeper?
The Council funds a range of specialist services and works with a network of charities and community projects to support homelessness. And there's a national website, Streetlink, where you can report a concern and alert local outreach workers.