Holy Trinity Night Shelter and Community Outreach in Bishop’s Stortford has won the King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

The charity, based at Holy Trinity Church Hall in South Street, is one of the 250 groups named in the King’s Award for Voluntary Service 2026, published on Saturday 14 November.

The awards are given each year to groups “in recognition of their outstanding voluntary work in the community”, and every winner has a one-line citation in a supplement to the London Gazette.

It is one of five Hertfordshire winners this year, alongside Watford Workshop, Home-Start Watford & Three Rivers, St Albans Good Neighbour Scheme and the 30th St Albans Guides.

Why the night shelter won

The charity is honoured for “supporting homeless people and those with precarious living arrangements into more stable accommodation”, the Gazette citation says.

Its night shelter has opened every November to March since 2015 and can take eight guests at a time, its website says.

Guests can refer themselves or be referred by East Herts Council, and they are risk-assessed before they arrive, according to the charity.

It provides “overnight accommodation and food for rough sleepers and the homeless”, the Charity Commission register says.

The work carries on all year, with help on drug, alcohol and mental health problems, money advice and “move on” housing, the register adds.

Where to find it

Outreach sessions for people at risk of losing their home run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11.30am to 1.30pm, the charity says.

Addiction and mental health services also hold drop-in sessions at the shelter, so guests do not have to travel for support.

It works with The Exchange at Bishop’s Stortford Baptist Church, Bishop’s Stortford Food Bank, Citizens Advice in East Herts, the NHS and East Herts Council.

The charity had 30 volunteers and an income of £79,418 in the year to December 2025, according to the Charity Commission.

“Due to your continuing generosity, there are many people that are now in their own homes with a life that they thought might never be possible,” the shelter tells supporters on its website.

Have you volunteered at the night shelter? Tell us in the comments.