Open Door (North East)

Charity Details

Full Name: Open Door (North East)
Field: Community Services
Founded: 2003
Headquarters: Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 3EA  
Charity No.: 1099865

History and Activities

Originally established in 2001 by members of the Jubilee Church Teeside, Open Door was officially founded as a registered charity in 2003. Since 2003, Open Door has been providing a range of services supporting the wellbeing, livelihoods and integration of refugees and asylum seekers in Tees Valley, County Durham and North Yorkshire. Asylum seekers have no recourse to public funding, which means that they are at a much higher risk of homelessness than British citizens. Open Door seeks to address that imbalance.

Teesside has one of the highest densities of asylum seekers housed per capita in the UK and as such the necessity and demand for supporting this area is high. Open Door is one of the largest specialist providers of housing in the UK. With the principles of providing support to all people; regardless of gender, age, race or religion the charity housed 141 refugees and 25 asylum seekers in 2017 through a portfolio of 34 houses. Many of the asylum seekers Open Door has worked with have had their asylum claims rejected and without Open Door and the wider NACCOM network would be entirely displaced.

Open Door operates from an office in Melbourne House, Middlesbrough where they run a weekly programme of support activities. These range from advice on housing and benefits, to the distribution of food parcels supplied by the Hartlepool Food Bank. Open Door also offers employability advice and support for refugees and asylum seekers. In 2016 the charity reported that employability support had helped 24 people find a job, with a further 30 securing voluntary work experience.

Although the charity receives some income from the subsidised rents (£51,305), they are largely supported by grant income (£164,288) of which £139,565 is restricted to specific projects. In 2017 they received funding to support women and families from The Hospital of God at Greatham, Sir James Knott and the Hadrian Trusts.

Vital Statistics (year to 31/03/2017)

Website
http://www.opendoornortheast.com/

References