A CHARITY which helps more than 300 homeless people in Blackburn each year has received a cash grant to pay for their 'miracle worker'.

Nightsafe Trust in Jubilee Street has been given £12,800 as part of the Department of the Environment's £7.9 million handout to 21 projects in the North West.

And the money will go towards the wages of their resettlement project worker Linda Sharrock who has been waving her magic wand for the past three years.

Paula Kuniuk, manager of Nightsafe which is now in its fifth year, said: "Linda really is our miracle worker. The work she does with homeless people is brilliant and is responsible for getting them into permanent accommodation which is getting harder each year.

"Last year we helped 350 homeless people which is the most we have ever dealt with since opening our doors. It just goes to show how valuable a member of the team Linda is for us."

Mrs Kuniuk added: "The majority of the people we help are from the area but we do have people from across the country coming in. Most of them are young people who have found themselves in the unfortunate position of being homeless."

But Linda was quick to play down her saintly role saying that helping homeless people gives her perfect job satisfaction.

She said: "I wouldn't say that I was a miracle worker I am just doing my job and it gives me a lot of satisfaction. However it is getting harder to find homeless people permanent accommodation. The Government changed the housing benefit system last year for the under 25s to a single room rate, which makes it very difficult for them to afford their own place."

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