A charity which helps the homeless has been given £5,000 from a fund established by the parent company of The Argus.

St Patrick's Trust, which maintains a hostel and night shelter for the homeless in Hove, was given the grant by the Gannett Foundation.

In 2001, the foundation awarded more than nine million dollars to worthy causes, mostly to American charities.

This Christmas, following Gannett's takeover of Newsquest in 1999, the fund was opened to charitable causes in areas of the UK where the firm publishes newspapers.

Grants of $270,000, or more than £180,000, were distributed to causes around the country. These included the donation to St Patrick's, on the recommendation of The Argus editor Simon Bradshaw.

The charity began life in 1985, when two homeless people were allowed to spend the night in St Patrick's Church at Cambridge Road, Hove, by Father Alan Sharpe.

Amanda Lane, a spokeswoman for St Patrick's, said: "He did not expect them to come back the following night but they did and very quickly started bringing their friends.

"Within a few weeks, there were upwards of 30 to 40 people sleeping on and under the pews.

"In 1993, a fully-equipped night shelter with showers and loos was built, by converting one end of the church.

"At the time, they also came up with a three-phase plan for a night shelter and hostel.

"We now have a 22-bed night shelter and have kept the church and also have a 29-bed hostel in half of the building.

"We have also started to purchase a couple of properties in the city in association with a housing association, getting the best of both professional worlds."

St Patrick's Trust is now headed by Father Alan's son Stephen. Amanda said everyone involved with the trust was very grateful for the donation from the Gannett Foundation, which would go towards its day-to-day expenses.

A spokesman for the Gannett Foundation said: "The programme makes contributions through grants and a matching gifts programme to qualified non-profit organisations to improve the education, health and advancement of the people who live in Gannett communities.

"The contributions are our way of helping to improve the quality of life and addressing the most pressing community issues."

The next rounds of donations from the Gannett Foundation will be in May and December 2002.