Announcing the opening of our Winter Emergency Night Shelters and new shelter film

On November 4th, Glass Door Homeless Charity will once again open the doors to our Emergency Winter Night Shelters for those who turn to us for support. Our night shelters have supported the community during the winter months for over 20 years, and we’re continuing to develop our services to help as many people as we can.  

This year, to support our ongoing efforts to spotlight our Winter Night Shelters, we worked with a filmmaker to create a film that gives further insight into our services. The film brings together members of the Glass Door team and some of our incredible volunteers, offering you a sneak peek into our night shelters. Thank you to all our staff, volunteers and guests who contributed their time to creating and being in the film, and helped bring our night shelters to life. Give it a watch below. 

We have the largest network of open access shelters in the UK – our open access policy means that no matter who you are or where you're from, you can turn to us for support. This means we’re able to offer up to 105 guests a safe place to stay at night, seven days a week, during the coldest months of the year.  

For those 22 weeks, from November - April, we provide guests with a safe, warm place to sleep and a hot and nutritious meal every night. In total, we have 21 night shelters across three circuits; in Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Wandsworth. A crucial element of our shelter provision is that every guest will have the opportunity to meet with a Caseworker for tailored advice and support to help them find a route out of homelessness. 

We have over 600 generous volunteers who help to run our night shelters, including welcoming guests, cooking meals and ensuring that everyone is safe – they also help organise supplies at our head office and translate shelter guides. We’ll also be opening our Women’s Night Shelter for the second year running, after last year’s success.  

Last season, we had 542 people stay in our night shelters, 83% of whom were sleeping rough before coming to us. We had some incredible outcomes, including 388 guests using our casework service and 105 guests being supported into more permanent housing. We hope to continue this good work as we begin our next shelter season. 

As with previous years, every month we’ll be reporting on how our night shelter season is going, offering updates from the frontline to give insight into how the shelters work, what our volunteers are up to, and the impact we’re having. Stay tuned for our monthly updates so you can come on the journey with us as we move through the shelter season. 

We know that homelessness is still on the rise in London – that's why it’s so important to be able to offer this emergency shelter provision to those who would otherwise be sleeping in unsafe conditions.