Find out about changes to our services and Christmas opening times on our Festive information page. To find out when your bin will be collected over the festive period, visit Changes to County Durham bin collections at Christmas.

Due to maintenance, the following systems will be unavailable from 11.45am on Tuesday 24 December until 8.00am on Thursday 2 January: our online Council Tax, business rates and housing benefit services, and our welfare assistance form. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Welcome Spaces Charter

All members of the Welcome Spaces Network across County Durham work to these standards.

Our Welcome Spaces offer everyone a warm welcome.

Everyone is treated equally

Everyone has the right to be warm, well and safe. Everyone in a Welcome Space will be treated with dignity and respect.

We are free to use

No-one will pay to enter our Welcome Space. There will be no charge for any activities or refreshments provided as part of the Welcome Spaces offer.

Helping to keep people safe

Safeguarding policies will always be followed. Where refreshments are offered, food hygiene rules are followed too. Each venue will follow the latest public health guidance around Covid-19, flu and other illnesses. Venues will follow their own age restrictions as appropriate and clearly display them on Locate and within the venue.

Maintaining confidentiality

If people want to share why they need a Welcome Space, they will be listened to and they will be signposted to where they can go for help where possible. Staff and volunteers won't tell anyone else unless they are given permission or it is because of safeguarding.

We are here to help

Someone will be present throughout a visit to a Welcome Space should they be needed. If people need additional help or support with the cost of living, staff and volunteers will put them in touch with organisations that might be able to help.