News article
Crisis Skylight Newcastle hosts international volunteer exchange
19 January 2012 | Topics: none
Crisis Skylight Newcastle has welcomed volunteers who will be spending the next three months assisting homelessness projects across Newcastle
The volunteers, who are 17 in total and aged between18-25, have spent the last three months in Namibia and come from both the UK and Africa. They will be volunteering as part of Global Xchange (GX) an international partnership between VSO, The British Council and other organisations around the world. All the volunteers will be staying with host families while in Newcastle.
The young people will be volunteering at homelessness organisations across the city and in March at the end of their time in Newcastle, will stage an event at a local homeless support organisation, explaining the work they have been doing and what has been achieved.
Leslie Morphy, Crisis chief executive, said: "We welcome this mutually beneficial programme whereby young people are able to develop their skills and bring a host of different experiences to assisting homeless and vulnerably housed people in Newcastle. We are delighted that Crisis Skylight Newcastle is the local partner of Global Xchange."
The Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, Councillor Geoff O'Brien attended this week's event which will took place between 6pm-8pm on Wednesday 18 January. The Crisis Skylight Café Chef and volunteers prepared a Namibian buffet for the event and welcomed more than 40 people.
Peter Ennals, a GX and Crisis volunteer who has just spent three months in Namibia, said: "We are very excited to be here and looking forward to seeing the project come to fruition, getting stuck into working with the community and helping as many people as possible."
Melisa Maida, GX and Crisis Coordinator, said: "The volunteers' time in Newcastle will be a fantastic opportunity to support people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. After three months of volunteering in Namibia with a network of nurseries that support vulnerable children, the volunteers are now keen to turn their support to working with people who are homeless in several different organisations across the city."
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