Ellie Goulding urges: help change lives by bidding in the homeless helpline auction

Singer urges people to bid to raise money for the Young and Homeless Helpline, while offering the chance to meet her at one of her shows as an auction lot

Ellie Goulding, seen here on a recent visit to a Centrepoint hostel, has backed the Homeless Helpline appeal (Joel Anderson)

Ellie Goulding has told how she had found homelessness “hard to see” from a young age – as she offered the chance to meet her as a prize in the final auction for our charity appeal.

The singer’s offer of a meet and greet and two tickets to watch an upcoming live show is the headline lot in the online fundraising auction, which is launched on Tuesday.

It comes as the star announced she had become an ambassador for Centrepoint, the charity which The Independent is supporting through the Young and Homeless Helpline appeal.

We are helping the charity launch the first national helpline for youngsters aged 16 to 25 who are homeless or at risk of life on the streets – as well as funding the vital services to which they could be referred. Currently, Centrepoint estimates that up to a third of young people seeking help with homelessness are turned away unaided by English local authorities.

Goulding, who has previously backed our appeal and has visited homeless shelters in the past two months to highlight the issues, said: “Homelessness has always been something I’ve found hard to see and hard to take in and hard to understand since I was very young.

“I am so happy to join Centrepoint as one of their new ambassadors to help support such a serious issue in the UK – youth homelessness.

“This final auction will help push these funds, so please check it out and bid on a lot to help change lives.”

Among the other lots to feature in the online auction are luxury holidays including a family stay in Zimbabwe, the chance to train with double silver medal-winning Olympian Jazz Carlin, signed Spurs, West Ham and Crystal Palace football shirts.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of Independent readers, more than £2m has already been raised for the appeal.