Open Door
Tel: 01727 859113

Open Door direct access night shelter - changing lives

The Open Door night shelter opened at 8 Bricket Road, St Albans on 3rd November 1993. St Albans City & District Council leased the building at a peppercorn rent to the Open Door Trust, and St Albans and District Churches Housing Association were appointed to manage the project. In 2003 responsibility passed to Hightown Praetorian & Churches Housing Association, following their merger. By then the services offered also included a day Centre. After 17 years of continuous use, providing help and shelter to some 7,500 different homeless people, the premises were in urgent need of upgrading and refurbishment.

Newly Developed Facilities

The refurbishment has enabled Open Door to provide 12 single bedrooms with wash facilities – rather than dormitory accommodation and outdated communal bathrooms and toilets. Other improvements to the building include the extension of the
communal areas to offer access to computers, so opening up on-line resources to help users back into longer term housing, education and work. Revised room arrangements will improve the provision of counselling as well as access to physical and mental healthcare, so addressing the problems leading to their homelessness. The developments will also give access to homeless people with mobility problems.

The pressures on the staff and volunteers will be reduced through improvements to the kitchen, food storage, laundry facilities and the staff overnight accommodation. The Vision for the future of Open Door is in line with Hertfordshire Supporting People’s 5 year strategy and the Government’s rough sleepers strategy “’No one left out – Communities ending rough sleeping”.