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DENS
Registered charity no. 1097185 - Company no. 4610820
DENS Day Centre, Bury Lodge, 1 Queensway, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP1 1HT
Tel: 01442 275900 Fax: 01442 265687 E-mail: bury.lodge@dens.org.uk
DENS Night Shelter & Admin Office, Hemel Hempstead
Tel: 01442 262274 Fax: 01442 240496 E-mail: office@dens.org.uk
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Food,
clothing, shelter and support – everyone deserves them,
everyone needs them. People often ask if Dacorum really has a
homelessness problem; sadly it does. Homeless people may not seem
obvious – we don’t have a ‘cardboard
city’ but there are men and women, young and old, sleeping
rough – in cars, on friends’ floors, in derelict
buildings or in hostels every night of the year.
Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning with
'Gazza', the Gazette's Dog.
Over 300 people, both young and old from church groups, businesses, MPs
and families slept out under the stars at the annual St Albans Abbey
Sleepout in December 2008.
There are many different factors which lead to a person becoming
homeless. Relationship breakdown and other factors such as mental
illness, alcohol or drug use can happen to anyone at any time as a
consequence of a series of circumstances cascading out of control.
DENS is an independent Charity which began in 1998 with a temporary
Night Shelter that operated in rotation around seven local churches for
five years, providing shelter during the winter months. DENS became a
permanent operation in 2003 and is a community response to the local
needs of homeless people, the vision in action of several concerned
individuals who cared enough to want to help solve the problem of
homelessness in Dacorum.
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, DENS works to improve the
lives of homeless people. DENS Night Shelter and Move-On-Accommodation
provide emergency and longerterm accommodation in safe surroundings for
those in need. DENS Day Centre provides food, hot drinks and a place to
go during the day to get off the streets. Guests play games, read
newspapers, meet others in a similar situation and have access to
advice provided by DENS staff, other agencies and volunteers.
Our aim is to make the Day Centre a positive training environment,
helping people reclaim their lives.
Underpinning all of DENS work is the Resettlement Service, which
provides one-to-one support to clients. Together with staff and a wide
volunteer base, DENS has helped more than 1000 homeless people in
Dacorum get their lives back on track since April 2003. |
Need police checking?
DENS is now a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) Umbrella Organisation and
is pleased to be able to offer CRB checks for individuals and
organisations that are based in Hertfordshire. DENS is happy to give
general guidance and process CRB applications for a small
administration cost.
Call 01442 262274 or email office@dens.org.uk
for more information.
Some
true stories:
John
was a happily married man with two children when he moved to Dacorum.
Unfortunately John’s relationship with his wife broke down,
they divorced and he was forced to leave the family home. John was
working on a contract basis with Railtrack at the time and sadly when
his contract wasn’t renewed, he became unemployed and was
forced to live on his savings in Bed & Breakfast accommodation.
When his savings ran out he had no one to turn to, and so he became
homeless. With support from DENS, within three weeks John managed to
secure a job as a live-in pub manager in the Midlands.
Emma
was 18 when she was found sleeping rough in Ashridge woods.
Emma told the DENS volunteer who found her that she'd been in the woods
for two days because she didn't know where else to go. Her mother was
mentally ill and couldn't cope, so had thrown Emma out onto the
streets. The volunteer referred her to DENS and within a few weeks she
was given a place at The Swan Foyer Project in Berkhamsted which
specifically helps and supports young people in leading independent
lives. |
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