News & Events

Young people speaking out for youth homeless charity New Forest Nightstop in Ringwood School Lion’s Den

The ‘Lion’s Den’ has been taken into a school for the first time in what is believed to be a unique approach.  The idea, based loosely on the BBC programme ‘Dragon’s Den’ was presented by Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions Club and hosted by Ringwood School.

The evening enabled members of the club to become more aware of what, where, when and how local young people are helping and assisting in community projects.

Three young people presented the case for New Forest Nightstop, their chosen cause.  Alex Wadlow, a sixth form student at Ringwood School, had the idea to enter New Forest Nightstop into the competition as he is part of a Nightstop host family.  Alex said, “I had preconceptions of these young people before we started hosting.  I thought they would come in and steal my stuff but I was so wrong.  They are simply everyday, young people, just like me.”

Alex was joined by fellow student, Ed Tindall who gave a powerful presentation about local youth homelessness, in which he challenged others preconceptions and showed that these are just young people at a crisis point in their lives.  Ed explained, “I had met one of the Nightstop young people at Alex’s house but it wasn’t until weeks later I found out they had been homeless.  I had absolutely no idea; they were so normal and friendly”.

The third member of the group was Jo Leigh, a young person who had previously stayed with Nightstop, which enabled her to continue her college education whilst being homeless.  Jo had contacted Nightstop to say she would like to get involved and share her story with other young people across the New Forest and say what a difference Nightstop had made to her. Jo stood up last during the presentation and with the audience and judges possibly thinking she was just another student, shared her story of homelessness.

Jude Todd, Nightstop Co-ordinator said, “It was a fantastic moment when these three young people came 1st. It was a significant prize for Nightstop to receive but I am even more proud of these three young people, standing up, taking action and speaking out in front of their peers and a formidable panel.  They did themselves proud”.

The judging panel consisted of Councillor Mr Brian Terry – Mayor of Ringwood, Jean Moore – Chernobyl Childrens Life Line and Barrie Richardson – President of Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions Club.

There were seven presentations by students and their charities on the night, all sharing their involvement with their chosen causes. The judges spent half an hour deliberating over which charity should be awarded the prize of £1000. Their final decision was that as every presentation was an inspiration of how our young people today are at work in our communities they would receive a share of the prize money however Nightstop came in at 1st place and were awarded the highest cash prize of £450.

New Forest Nightstop is one of a number of projects run by local charity Community First New Forest.  If you would like to make a donation to New Forest Nightstop, or any of Community First New Forest’s other projects, contact Joss Ridge, Business Support Manager on 01425 482773 or email businesssupport@cfnf.org.uk.  Anyone interested in volunteering with Nightstop should contact Jude Todd on 01425 478391 or email nightstop@cfnf.org.uk.

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