The story of St Basils effectively began on October 1st, 1972 when the doors of the hall at the disused Anglican Church in Heath Mill Lane, Deritend, Birmingham, were opened and the first nightshelter specifically for young men opened for business.
It was, essentially, the brainchild of one extraordinary man, Rev. Les Milner, an Anglican priest who was to dedicate the next 28 years of his life to working with young homeless men and women. It was a decision that was to affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people in and around Birmingham.
That first nightshelter became known as ‘The Boot’ (probably because the young men had been ‘booted’ out of their previous homes) and became the foundation on which the rest of the organisation was built.
St Basils soon realised the needs of young women and Yardley House was opened to serve that group of society and it was followed by more projects to bring young people off the streets and into safety.
Les realised that this, though good, was not enough. The standards of accommodation had to be raised, the ambitions of the residents met.
The next breakthrough came in 1984 when ‘The Boot’ was closed. By then we realised that dormitory accommodation was no way to help a young person back into independence. The replace project ‘The New Boot’ had separate bedrooms for everyone, a door that they could close behind them and a place, though temporary, that they could call their own. It was the start of the change that sees us now with every young person having a room of their own and some space in which to develop. In 2008 it was again refurbished to make all the rooms en-suite, giving more independence to each resident. It was also renamed 'Milner Court' in honour of our late founder.
Today we are the largest regional organisation in the Uk working with young people who are homeless or in danger of homelessness. Every year we will see 4,500 16-25 year olds, accommodate around 1,000 and help large numbers with advice, education and support. We are proud to have been appointed 'National Centre of Excellence for Youth Homelessness' by HM Government.
In 2000 Rev Les Milner retired and, unfortunately, passed away two years later.
The new Chief Executive, Jean Templeton, came with a housing background and a zeal for growing on the foundations that Les had laid. 21st Century St Basils continues to see young people as our absolute priority and has grown into a ground-breaking innovative organisation that works with partners across Local Government, Industry and Commerce, Housing Associations and many others.
2007 saw our 35th birthday – and 2008 continues to give us new challenges and opportunities. Your help can make sure that we continue to help more young people take up the challenges of their lives.
