Open Door: how it all started
Our history
The charity was founded in 1993, initially providing a basic, volunteer-run space to sleep, above a shop in Victoria Street. It soon became clear that broader support was needed for our guests, so a partnership with a local housing association was established, setting up a night shelter, now known as the Homeless Hub, providing a wider range of support in premises provided by St Albans Council, in Bricket Road.
We led on fundraising for a major refurbishment of these facilities, completed in 2010 and providing private rooms and communal space for 12 people. The Homeless Hub continues to be managed and staffed by Hightown Housing Association, with the charity providing valued volunteer support, and funding additional services and ongoing refurbishment. These have included counselling services, kitchen equipment, and recently, new furniture for the living area.
Since 2013, the charity has funded a full-time Outreach Worker (initially a council-funded post), who supports those rough sleeping across the St Albans district, more recently working in partnership with the council’s specialist Rough Sleeper Advisor. This role is crucial in encouraging rough sleepers to engage with services at the Homeless Hub and to start a pathway to more settled accommodation, whilst also checking in on their safety and wellbeing.
Since 2017, the charity has also provided additional, volunteer-run overnight accommodation through its Winter Beds Project.
Winter Beds Project
This project was set up under the umbrella of the Open Door Charity and from an initiative by city centre churches concerned about the increasing number of rough sleepers during the winter.
Guidance and assistance was provided by Housing Justice, an organisation that works to establish common values and ways of working that ensure night shelters are effective and safe places of support for those in need. They continue to advise and monitor the project through their Quality Mark appraisal: we have been delighted to have been awarded ‘Excellent Practice’ in their Quality Mark accreditation.
For the first three years, it was hosted at Trinity United Reformed Church, with mattresses on the floor of a shared sleeping area, and hot refreshments and breakfast provided.
During COVID, the project transferred to individual self- contained cabins, hosted at Emmaus Emmaus Hertfordshire – Homelessness Charity in Hertfordshire. Although the service ran successfully, there were some disadvantages with the out of town location, along with the costs of cabin hire.
In 2024 we moved back to the city centre, in a shared, partitioned hall generously provided by Marlborough Road Methodist Church.
Initially, the service only ran during periods of severe cold, but from 2019 it has been available every night during the winter period, recognising the risks and hardship from sleeping out in all kinds of weather.
The project has received some central government funding and is currently joint funded by St Albans District Council. We have received support from a number of local companies and organisations, including the Verso foodbank, St Albans and Harpenden Hygiene Bank, and of course our hosts at Trinity, Emmaus and Marlborough Road Methodist Church.
Initially, the service only ran during periods of severe cold, but from 2019 it has been available every night during the winter period, recognising the risks and hardship from sleeping out in all kinds of weather.
The project has received some central government funding and is currently joint funded by St Albans District Council. We have received support from a number of local companies and organisations, including the Verso foodbank, St Albans and Harpenden Hygiene Bank, and of course our hosts at Trinity, Emmaus and Marlborough Road Methodist Church.