Nightstop, which has been running for 30 years in the UK, has accredited its first North American Nightstop – in Ontario, Canada.

Working in partnership with Canadian charity 360°kids, the new service will start placing young people in volunteers’ homes in February 2017, using the model that has successfully helped hundreds of thousands of young people in the UK over the past 30 years.

Nicola Harwood, Head of Nightstop UK, said: “Nightstop is now on the global stage, leading the way in emergency accommodation, with our first accredited service in North America. I have no doubt 360°kids will work hard to reach vulnerable young people in Ontario, Canada, to make sure they have a safe place to sleep”.

She added: “Nightstop UK will continue to develop its work overseas, to ensure its mission of no young person sleeping in an unsafe place.”

The new service, which is based near Toronto, in Ontario, south-east Canada, came about after 360°kids recognised a need for emergency accommodation for young people, and reached out to Nightstop UK to help them establish the model over there.

Michael Braithwaite, Executive Director of 360°kids, said: “In our community, in York Region, in Ontario, we are far from building our way out of homelessness.

“Launching Nightstop in Canada through 360°kids was a perfect fit and helped us to involve our community in ending homelessness in an affordable and effective way.”