A YOUNG man is thrown out of home by his mother because he can’t pay his way while he’s studying full time at college.

Another, newly released from prison for burglary, has £6 a week to live on. He doesn’t even know if he’s good at anything because he’s already written himself off as a ‘useless bum’.

Both are representative of the complex issues an increasing number of young people are facing on a daily basis.

Nightsafe, the charity which recently received £300,000 over three years in Lottery grant, is offering all the support it can, but with more than 100 young homeless people passing through its doors each month, resources are stretched.

The reasons are legion why so many 16 to 24-year-olds don’t have a regular sleeping place, but family breakdown tops the list. And it’s apparent in some families that if a youngster can’t make a financial contribution to the household, then they’re sent packing.

Amanda Fletcher, the day centre co-ordinator, recounts the tale of two teenage girls who had been thrown out of their homes and were camping out in Witton Park in a wooden shelter they’d made for themselves in the children’s playground.

“They had nowhere to go and didn’t know where to find help. They clung on to each other for support. When they arrived here, the relief on their faces was touching.

“Here they can have a shower, and a meal and we can try to get some benefits in place. They are now both in accommodation.

“Some families are finding it hard to support children who are not bringing in wages and they just throw them out. We do manage to get some of the younger ones back home though.”

Another problem is youngsters falling behind with their rent. Some receive £85 a fortnight in benefits, £65 of which is spent on rent. Others have even less if they have to pay court fines or loans.

“They don’t have any money for clothes or fares to get to interviews. We’ve had young people here who can’t eat a full meal because their stomachs have shrunk so much that they can’t cope with it.” Indeed, Amanda could write a book about the horror stories.

Many kids have turned up with a severe form of foot rot.

“When you’ve been walking the streets for weeks in your trainers they deteriorate and let in water. When your feet are constantly wet, that’s what happens. We’ve had some awful weather lately. Rain is worse than cold because everything gets wet. If we don’t have room left we have to send them away with a sleeping bag.”

Nightsafe encourages the homeless to study for an AQA qualification which teaches them budgeting, safety in the home and on the street, shopping on a budget, sexual health, drug awareness and interview techniques. It’s basically a course in survival.

Sadly, as many as half of those who find themselves on the street have drug problems, although Nightsafe has a zero tolerance ruling. Some start taking drugs to cope with living on the street, even though it’s not a solution. It’s a coping strategy.

But it’s not all bad news. “The problem is that society tends to tar all these youngsters with the same brush. We work to get people back into education, we have two who are now at university. One is in London training to be an engineer.

“We also help get people into work and accommodation. We work with Lifeline to try to get them off drugs. We also work to get them motivated. Our football team’s doing really well at the moment. They learn team skills and they have to sign a code of conduct before they take part. We do everything we can.”