About us

Open Door Accommodation Project is a youth charity that has been working for over thirty years with some of West Lothian’s most vulnerable young people at risk of homeless. Many may have been affected by family breakdown, are care leavers, have been physically, emotionally or sexually abused, have poor mental health or well-being, are socially isolated and will struggle to find or sustain employment due to lack of qualifications or experience.

We aim to support the young people who come to us in a number of ways. Our priority is to provide a safe space for young people in crisis and then we work with them to devise a support plan to enable them to manage the transition from homelessness, cope with independent living and progress towards positive outcomes. A support plan is tailored to individual need and can include: welfare advice, budgeting, cookery skills to encourage healthy eating on a budget, education and training, employability skills and volunteering opportunities. We also aim to give each young vulnerable person practical support. This can include furniture, a household pack with basic toiletries and cleaning materials and a food pack. Many of the young people come to us with nothing more than a small bag of clothes so this practical support is essential.

We offer two housing services- a residential accommodation with ten units in the Craigshill area of Livingston, and a supported flats service offering young people accommodation in flats across West Lothian. We also offer a Community Outreach project which encompasses one to one support, an employability service, health and wellbeing service and a financial inclusion service.

Mission Statement

Open Door Accommodation Project operates as an enabling and empowering organisation. The approach to our work is innovative and multi-disciplinary.

We acknowledge the views of our stakeholders in our skilled and effective delivery of safe secure accommodation and support to young people at risk of homelessness between the ages of 16 and 25 years.

Philosophy/Value Base

Open Door Accommodation Project is committed to working in partnership with other agencies in the provision of quality services for vulnerable young people and in advancing the aims of social justice by assisting young people to take their place in society.

The Values that Open Door Accommodation Project work towards may be summarised as follows:

·       A person- centred approach: To place the primary focus on the welfare, development and aspirations of the young person.

·       Respect: To pay full regard to the individuality, integrity, humanity and right to privacy of the young person and to his/her wishes at any time. To apply Open Door Accommodation Project’s Policy on confidentiality.

·       Self Determination: As far as possible, to encourage the young person to exercise choice, to make or participate in decisions, which affect him /her, and to contribute to decisions about the running of the organisation.

·       Participation: As far as his/her capacities and wishes allow, to encourage the young person to become involved in all the activities in which he/she is engaged.

·       Openness: In relating to young people, to be honest and truthful; to allow them full access to information and to ensure that the Project’s processes are transparent.

·       Personal development: To promote the social confidence and self-awareness of residents and to encourage and help them to achieve their potential.

·       Inclusiveness:  To avoid discrimination on any grounds; to ensure that the young person’s views are fully represented.

·       Rights & Responsibilities: To encourage young people to exercise their rights and to achieve a proper balance between rights and responsibilities.