A BLACKPOOL homeless organisation, praised by Mo Mowlam on her recent visit, has been given the go-ahead to expand its work in the town.

And they are looking for the help of three volunteers to join them for a year.

Streetlife, who run the emergency homeless centre at St John's Church in the town centre, was described by MP Dr Mowlam as "very important" and she went on to say "shelters like this concentrate on not just putting a roof over people's heads but helping them in the future with advice and assistance."

And now Streetlife has been granted planning permission to expand its Youth Base centre at 155 Church Street.

Despite protests from nearby shop owners, the planning committee had no qualms about letting the organisation expand through to the empty shop next door.

Senior youth worker with Streetlife Jane Hugo explained exactly how this expansion will benefit the town's homeless.

"Currently the services we provide at the Youth Base are very crisis led," she said. "We are dealing with people who may well be sleeping rough and might need to find accommodation, or might not have eaten for days. "Some people have very severe health problems and we can put them in touch with the relevant services. Now we will be able to spend more time with the people as individuals.

"We can work on helping them develop skills like budgeting, literacy and numeracy -- but all in a fun way such as planning day trips and working on team skills."

And now they are looking for three volunteers to join the new "Volunteer In Training" scheme.

Suitable candidates must be between 18-25, enthusiastic and well motivated. As well as gaining a year's valuable experience in the field of social services, the successful candidates will also get a flat paid for by the council and a small allowance.

"It is a great challenge for anyone who enjoys working with young people," said Jane.

"Coming to work is different every day -- it's not like some office job where you sit there doing repetitive work. There are always fresh challenges." If you are interested in applying then call Jo or Jane at Streetlife on (01253) 294477.