Centrepoint, the Charity for Homeless Young People, Partners with PR Newswire

LONDON, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Centrepoint, the leading UK charity supporting homeless young people, has begun a partnership with PR Newswire, who will provide its global PR and communication tools to help the charity raise awareness of its work and activities.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140729/699825 )

Centrepoint supports over 6,000 homeless 16-25 year olds into housing and employment every year. Working directly in London and the north of England, the charity also partners with other organisations across the UK and gives homeless young people a voice through the Centrepoint Parliament. It conducts research and influences government policy with the overall aim of ending youth homelessness. HRH The Duke of Cambridge became Centrepoint's patron in 2005.

The PR Newswire management team were taken on a tour of three Centrepoint hostels in London, including the building in which the charity began in 1969, and met staff dedicated to helping young people turn their lives around. Young people typically stay with Centrepoint for around two years, receiving professional support in tackling physical and mental health problems, finding work or accessing education and learning the life skills needed to live independently.

Lisa Ashworth, President, PR Newswire EMEA and India, said: "Visiting the hostels to see the positive effects of the work that their wonderful team does is a rare privilege, and has left me in no doubt of the importance of ensuring that Centrepoint's work is shared with as many people as possible. PR Newswire has a record of working in partnerships that bring together not-for-profits, social enterprises and businesses to explore opportunities that have a positive impact on both the community and business performance.

"With PR Newswire providing the tools, individual PR Newswire staff giving their own time and experience, and Centrepoint's rich source of stories to deliver to traditional and social media, we have created a powerful triangular relationship to help Centrepoint spread their message."

The first story that Centrepoint and PR Newswire will be sharing focuses on a new app to help the 80,000 young people who experience homelessness each year 'check out' of hostels and into independent living. Centrepoint is competing for a £500,000 grant from technology giant Google after the project was named a finalist in the Google UK Impact Challenge.

Four winners will see their grant increased to £500,000: one decided by public vote, three selected by a judging panel including BBC Dragon Peter Jones CBE and inventor of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales. The winners will be announced at a final event at Google's UK headquarters on Thursday 31st July. Centrepoint is urging people to vote for the project before 30 July: https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/uk2014/charity/centrepoint  

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/players/English/71400595-Google-UK-Impact-Challenge-Centrepoint/    

Richard Utting, Head of Events and Major Donors at Centrepoint, said: "We're excited to be working with PR Newswire. Youth homelessness remains a massive issue, faced by 80,000 young people across the UK all year-round, not just in the winter months. Even after finding a safe place to stay at Centrepoint the vulnerable 16-25 year-olds we work with still face a number of challenges, not least recovering their physical and mental health, finding a job and moving on to a home of their own. Through PR Newswire we hope to explain the reality of youth homelessness to a wider audience, and inspire them to help give homeless young people a future."    

About Centrepoint 

• Centrepoint is the leading charity for homeless young people aged 16-25.
• Centrepoint supports 6,000 homeless young people a year.
• It provides accommodation-based and floating support services in London and the North of England. These include emergency night shelters and accommodation-based short stay services, as well as specialist services for care leavers, ex-offenders, young single parents, foyers and supported flats.
• Centrepoint's work is about more than just providing a safe bed for the night; Centrepoint helps young people to turn their lives around by gaining essential life skills; tackling their physical and mental health issues and moving into education or employment.
• Through policy work, Centrepoint aims to influence public policy, campaigning on behalf of the young people it supports and homeless young people throughout the UK.
• Founded in 1969, Centrepoint has helped more than 95,000 homeless young people.
• HRH The Duke of Cambridge became Centrepoint's Patron in 2005.

For more information, please visit http://www.centrepoint.org.uk

Centrepoint Contact: 

Chris Gerrard, Media & PR Officer, +44(0)2074236887, +44(0)7540678234, c.gerrard@centrepoint.org

About PR Newswire

PR Newswire is the leading global provider of PR and corporate communications tools that enable clients to distribute news and rich content across traditional, digital and social media channels in real time with fully actionable reporting and monitoring.

Producing, optimising and targeting news and content across the world's largest multichannel distribution network and offering the most accurate and frequently updated opted in journalist databases for nearly 60 years, PR Newswire has a truly global reach serving clients across EMEA, India, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

PR Newswire is part of UBM plc. http://www.prnewswire.co.uk

PR Newswire Contact:

Garry Durston, Marketing Director EMEA and India, +44(0)207-454-5115