Crowdfunding campaign to help Norfolk’s homeless youth back into work

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to tackle the issue of youth homelessness in Norfolk.

For the past two years former teacher Rebecca White, 40, has been helping young people across the county secure employment.

Her social enterprise, Your Own Place, aims to provide homeless people aged 16 to 25 with the skills needed to hold down a job and manage debt.

Now, through a crowdfunding campaign, she is hoping to employ one of the young people her organisation has helped in the hope they will go on to inspire others.

Miss White, who lives near Thurton, said: 'The majority of young people we work with are homeless. They might be living in hostels or children's homes and so we provide them with important life skills.

'Youth homelessness is a real issue and, anecdotally, it does seem to be getting worse. If you are homeless at a young age, you are five times more likely to be homeless as an adult.'

In the past year Miss White has worked with 109 young people, 70pc of which were 'technically' homeless.

She said that these individuals, who have no choice but to live in hostels or sleep people's floors, were often missed out by homeless counts.

The crowdfunding campaign has just 21 days to meet its £15,000 target.

To donate, visit https://buzzbnk.org/yourownplace