A warm meal and a bed to sleep in at night is something many of us take for granted, but for dozens of people in Ipswich this is a luxury they have to fight for on a daily basis.

Selig (Suffolk) Trust is a charity that is helping to provide homeless people in the town with nourishment and a safe place to rest during the coldest months of the year through the Ipswich Winter Night Shelter (IWNS).

For the last five years, hundreds of volunteers have worked together to run the project. It uses a rolling church model where a different church across the town offers shelter each night of the week to people living on the street.

Guests are given friendly company, an evening meal, a clean bed and a hot breakfast in the morning.

This winter the charity is doing more by employing a full-time, year-round support worker to help IWNS guests rebuild their lives through its new project called Hope Into Action, which will work to find homes for people who need them.

Selig needs to recruit 40 volunteers to help run the IWNS every night from December 8, 2016 to March 12, 2017.

People are desperately needed to help on the overnight shifts (10pm to 7am) and morning shifts (6.45am to 9am).

The Reverend Canon Paul Daltry, chairman of Selig (Suffolk) Trust and a founder of IWNS, said: “Most volunteers who I have spoken to love doing it.

“I think they discover more about themselves and it helps them realise that it’s only a short step to any of us becoming homeless, and interacting with all sorts of people is something that is very stimulating and good to be a part of.”

Anyone interested can download the volunteer application form via: www.iwns.org.uk