Official Reopening following the refurbishment
The Mayor of the City and District of St Albans, Councillor Frances Leonard, formally re-opened the refurbished premises of Centre 33, the St Albans drop-in centre for homeless and other socially disadvantaged people, on the afternoon of Friday 28 October.
Centre 33 provides a warm welcome to rough sleepers and others who need its services. Hot meals and drinks are served at every session and there is a shower (with towels and toiletries provided). Centre 33 is situated in the flat above the public toilets on the corner of George Street and Spicer Street. The fabric of the Centre had become very worn and in addition there was a significant problem with humidity leading to hard-to-eliminate mould.
A key part of the refurbishment was the installation of special ventilation equipment to deal with the humidity in the Centre. Once this was installed, all the rooms and corridors (except the kitchen which will be refurnished in 2017) were comprehensively redecorated and new flooring was laid.
Welcoming the Mayor, the Chairman of Centre 33, Mark Arbeid, said:
“Centre 33 provides essential support to those in St Albans who are rough sleeping or in insecure accommodation. For too long the decor and surroundings have not matched the warm welcome that visitors receive from our volunteers; the Centre was dingy, the flooring poor and, no matter how hard we tried, the mould kept coming back.
The recent refurbishment makes the Centre a clean and bright environment for our visitors. It helps build feelings of respect among our visitors and is a much better environment for them and for our volunteers.
Centre 33 is looking forward to Christmas and New Year at the Centre which will be open every day, including Christmas Day, over the holiday period.”
The Mayor, who cut a celebratory cake and met supporters and volunteers, said:
“The voluntary sector provides such an enormous range of support to vulnerable people in St Albans; we would be so much poorer without it. Centre 33 plays a key role by providing a drop-in service for the homeless and other people who are vulnerable. This service is available every day and staffed entirely by volunteers. I strongly support their work, especially that with rough sleepers. I know the cost of the refurbishment was significant and I thank the individuals, churches and other organisations whose contributions have enabled this considerable improvement to take place.
“Further improvements to the centre are planned once funding is available. Please join me and volunteers from Centre 33 at the Abbey Sleep Out on Friday 2nd December and help raise this funding through sponsorship.”
Centre 33 provides a warm welcome to rough sleepers and others who need its services. Hot meals and drinks are served at every session and there is a shower (with towels and toiletries provided). Centre 33 is situated in the flat above the public toilets on the corner of George Street and Spicer Street. The fabric of the Centre had become very worn and in addition there was a significant problem with humidity leading to hard-to-eliminate mould.
A key part of the refurbishment was the installation of special ventilation equipment to deal with the humidity in the Centre. Once this was installed, all the rooms and corridors (except the kitchen which will be refurnished in 2017) were comprehensively redecorated and new flooring was laid.
Welcoming the Mayor, the Chairman of Centre 33, Mark Arbeid, said:
“Centre 33 provides essential support to those in St Albans who are rough sleeping or in insecure accommodation. For too long the decor and surroundings have not matched the warm welcome that visitors receive from our volunteers; the Centre was dingy, the flooring poor and, no matter how hard we tried, the mould kept coming back.
The recent refurbishment makes the Centre a clean and bright environment for our visitors. It helps build feelings of respect among our visitors and is a much better environment for them and for our volunteers.
Centre 33 is looking forward to Christmas and New Year at the Centre which will be open every day, including Christmas Day, over the holiday period.”
The Mayor, who cut a celebratory cake and met supporters and volunteers, said:
“The voluntary sector provides such an enormous range of support to vulnerable people in St Albans; we would be so much poorer without it. Centre 33 plays a key role by providing a drop-in service for the homeless and other people who are vulnerable. This service is available every day and staffed entirely by volunteers. I strongly support their work, especially that with rough sleepers. I know the cost of the refurbishment was significant and I thank the individuals, churches and other organisations whose contributions have enabled this considerable improvement to take place.
“Further improvements to the centre are planned once funding is available. Please join me and volunteers from Centre 33 at the Abbey Sleep Out on Friday 2nd December and help raise this funding through sponsorship.”
