The Church of the Ever-Open Door

Austen Williams ‘Letter of Thanks’ to a Christmas Appeal donor St Martin’s Christmas Appeal blossomed in the 1960s and 1980s. Each December, volunteers gathered for the broadcast, manned phones, sorted envelopes, and sent thank-you cards. This year will be the 100th Christmas Appeal. The Charity uses the money raised to help people directly into new homes, to support and champion frontline workers and to test, develop and share solutions to the causes and consequences of homelessness. In 2025, it raised £2.6 million.

The Church of the Ever-Open Door 

In 1914, Revd Dick Sheppard had a vision of St Martin’s:

I stood on the west steps and saw what the church would be to the life of the people…

I saw it full of people, dropping in at all hours of the day and night… often tired bits of humanity swept in.

And I said to them as they passed, ‘Where are you going?’ And they said, 

‘This is our home… This is St Martin’s.’

Sheppard’s ‘open door’ initiatives were formalised by successive vicars. In 1948, the church set up the Social Service Unit (SSU), later the Social Care Unit (SCU), to provide care, advice, and space to those experiencing homelessness. In 1973, the Centre, later the London Connection, opened for young people needing support. In 2003, they merged to form The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Sheppard would boldly appeal for financial support and modelled generosity by giving 10 shillings of every £1 earned by St Martin’s away. At Christmas 1920, he made a special appeal to his congregation to help those in need, and in 1927 this was incorporated into the BBC Broadcast and first featured in the Radio Times. The St Martin’s Christmas Appeal with Radio 4 continues today, supporting the St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity to tackle homelessness across the UK.