{"id":6468,"date":"2024-02-29T15:14:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T15:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.depaul.org.uk\/?post_type=stories&p=6468"},"modified":"2024-02-29T15:14:03","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T15:14:03","slug":"nightstop-hosts-andy-and-michelle","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/www.depaul.org.uk\/stories\/nightstop-hosts-andy-and-michelle\/","title":{"rendered":"nightstop hosts: Andy and Michelle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cHosting young homeless people for the last decade has taught us to never take anything for granted.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector and youth crime expert, Andy Briers, 57 and wife Michelle, 55 from North London have been hosting young homeless people for nearly a decade.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The father-of-two has welcomed more than 80 people into his home, mostly teenagers, who would otherwise have faced a night on the streets, making them easy targets for abuse and exploitation if they weren\u2019t offered help.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Andy says he knows all too-well how easy it is for young people to fall on hard times and thinks hosting through Nightstop is one of the most tangible, rewarding and practical ways of offering hope to a young person while they find their feet. He says most of the people the family have hosted have lost their homes through unimaginable circumstances, including family breakdown or forced out of their own country because of serious threats of violence. They usually arrive exhausted, but thankful for a safe place to stay for the night.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Andy said: \u201cWe\u2019ve been hosting for nearly a decade now, ever since our boys were at Secondary School. It\u2019s not only been beneficial for the people we\u2019ve hosted, but it\u2019s been great for us too. As a family we feel we\u2019ve got a lot out of the experience, and people we\u2019ve met as a result. We\u2019ve been very fortunate that some of the young people who have walked through our doors have been open about their background and have shared their stories.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife and I have always been aware that our two boys have grown up mostly wanting for nothing so it\u2019s been good for our boys to know that there are real problems in the world \u2013 it\u2019s opened their minds quite a lot and helped to shape them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the people we hosted even helped them with their homework when they were younger because many are sitting exams themselves, or studying. This was a huge bonus for us as parents, and totally unexpected. The boys loved getting to know them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, because of how young some of the people were, I couldn\u2019t help but compare them to my own children and think of how lucky we all were.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife and I often found ourselves thinking that if our boys, or any of their friends ever fell on hard times we\u2019d like to think that there are people who would help them in this way or give them a safe space so they didn\u2019t have to sleep rough.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cNot everyone who walks through our door has the energy, or desire to chat and that\u2019s OK. It\u2019s to be expected. It\u2019s scary for the young person, and they\u2019ve had a really difficult time of it, so we always make sure they are shown their room and tell them what time dinner is. We invite them to talk to us, watch TV with us, but never place any expectations on them, some people just want to go to their room to sleep or study in peace.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChatting to the people who arrive is just a bonus, it\u2019s a great part of the role if they trust you enough to want to open up. There\u2019s been plenty of memorable conversations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember when we hosted a young deaf Polish man and we would communicate with him by typing messages onto his phone, when our made-up sign language wasn\u2019t working.\u00a0 He stayed with us on and off over a few weeks. We all got on so well with him and were sad when he left our home for the last time!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as my job goes, I rarely tell anyone what I do unless asked, but sometimes I\u2019ll open the door to someone and get a feeling that this could have been their last chance. They\u2019re so vulnerable at that point; you know they could have so easily fallen victim to crime or lose their life, if they had to spend the night on the street. It\u2019s such a relief to know that they\u2019ve got somewhere safe to stay. We\u2019ve often been told it offers them hope while the charity works tirelessly to find a more permanent solution for them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow our boys have flown the nest, we\u2019ve got more than enough room and won\u2019t be quitting anytime soon. It\u2019s honestly one of the best things I\u2019ve done, and it\u2019s so easy to see what a difference it makes. A couple of nights a month, a hot meal and shower is all that\u2019s needed to completely change someone\u2019s life for the better.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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