06 Feb 2024
Chris Lewis looks at changes taking place at the local charity supporting the homeless and people in need…
Every organisation, especially a charitable one, goes through changes. It’s natural, to be expected and should actively be encouraged as needs change over time.
Centre 33 was founded in 1977 and takes its name from its early premises at 33 Hatfield Road, St Albans.
It moved to its Spicer Street premises in 1991 and one could say that this move was our first evolution.
Spicer Street allowed us to provide a better service to our visitors, especially in terms of providing meals and more space for our visitors, to supplement the information, socialising and support already available to those using 33 Hatfield Road.
We were able to cook and serve a full meal to our visitors. Spicer Street provided a warm space for visitors to chat to others and linger over newspapers. Over the years, this service developed, not least in terms of the number of people using the service (up to as many as 300 a year) and the number of meals served (over 9,000 a year by 2019). A big change in the early 2000s was converting the bathroom-toilet into a separate shower room and toilet, This enabled far more visitors to take showers than could use the bath. The number of volunteers working to support the Centre grew too. In 2008, the work done by trustees and volunteers was recognised by the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
The pandemic forced us to evolve again. Spicer Street was no longer a safe space for volunteers or visitors and so a new approach to providing our services was needed.
We are immensely grateful that at this key moment of need, the St Albans Salvation Army stepped forward and offered use of their Citadel premises for a new takeaway service. What may look like a simple change needed additional new volunteers (given that many were not comfortable socialising so soon), new procedures, new menus etc.
Our takeaway service launched and allowed us to continue to deliver against our mission.
As the world opened up more, we were able to expand the Citadel service to being a sitdown meal, an important move that allowed us to meet another key element of our service, socialising, alongside simply getting a meal.
For those that we support, this is equally if not more important as so many are fairly isolated in their lives. In early 2023, the Spicer Street service was also reopened, allowing us to provide a breakfast meal alongside the Citadel evening meal.
To bring things back to the topic of evolution, we acknowledge that we may need to change again. One of the positive impacts of the pandemic is that government money became available to enable councils around the country to provide a housing solution to those that are homeless.
Homelessness is more complex than simply those who sleep on the street as many fit into the “sofa surfing” category which is largely invisible to authorities. It is also important to note the second element of our purpose which also covers “those in need” which includes those with limited income or perhaps without all of the life skills to be able to fully support themselves.
However, as the face of homeless changes in St Albans, the trustees have been looking to the future and the services that we believe will be valuable to those in need.
Our visitors have complex lives and needs, some of which can be supported by Centre 33 but many which are best suited to the skills of other charitable organisations in the city.
We recognise that for smaller charities like ourselves, there is strength in numbers through collaboration of resources, both financial and people as well as a shared desire to provide a fuller service to our visitors.
Part of our long term vision is to identify a location that could allow some of the charities that work in the homelessness sector to come together in a community hub, based together in a shared space to support our visitors.
However, we recognise that this needs two key components; a location that is suitable for our visitors whilst recognising that we need to consider our neighbours and secondly, the funding needed to acquire such a building and deliver the services. These are not simple challenges to overcome but as trustees, our role is to continue to push the organisation to ensure that it is fit for the needs of the future. Initial estimates are that the premises for such a hub should have a ground floor with an area of some 100 square metres for preparation, serving and eating meals and access to shower and toilet facilities, with additional rooms for private consultation.
Do you know of such a space in St Albans? If so, please contact Centre 33 at comms@centre33.org
And if you are interested in learning more about volunteering or are able to make a donation, please visit us at centre33.org
