Christmas opening hours

Customer Hub

If you want to speak to someone in person you can visit our Customer Hub at St Helens Town Hall, Victoria Square, St Helens, WA10 1HP on the following dates and times over the festive period:

• Wednesday 24 December - open 9am - 4pm
• Thursday 25 December - closed
• Friday 26 December - closed
• Saturday 27 December - closed
• Monday 29 December - open 9am - 4pm
• Tuesday 30 December - open 9am - 4pm
• Wednesday 31 December - open 9am - 4pm
• Thursday 2 January - closed

Unless stated above, the Customer Hub will be open as usual, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Call Centre

If you want to speak to us on the phone you can call us on 01744 676789 on the following dates and times over the festive period:

• Wednesday 24 December - open 8am - 4pm
• Thursday 25 December - closed
• Friday 26 December - closed
• Saturday 27 December - closed
• Monday 29 December - open 8am - 4pm
• Tuesday 30 December - open 8am - 4pm
• Wednesday 31 December - open 8am - 4pm
• Thursday 2 January - closed

Contact Cares is the single point of access for all social care and adult health referrals in St Helens Borough, and the first point of contact for children referrals.

The team provide help for a range of issues including health and care needs and are available every day throughout the festive period, from 8am to 10pm, on 01744 676767 or by emailing contactcares@sthelens.gov.uk.

Welcome Spaces are somewhere you can go to get warm, stay warm and enjoy a little company. In some you'll also be able to get refreshments.

Residents of all ages across the borough are welcome to come into our libraries and leisure centres, to stay warm, and there are other Welcome Spaces across the borough.

Our Welcome Spaces directory shows where known Welcome Spaces are available and their opening times. It also includes information on facilities and access.

Register Office

Our register office is open for death registrations only during the Christmas period. These are triaged by telephone first and all registrations are by appointment. We accept card payments only for certificates.

We will call the next of kin between 9am and 4.45pm once we have the paperwork from the Medical Examiner - there is no requirement for any family members to ring us.

We will also be available to issue emergency funeral documents for faith funerals via on call arrangements between 10am - 12pm over the holiday weekends/Bank holidays except Christmas Day. This is by appointment only on 01744 676728.

Bereavement Services

Book of Remembrance opening times

The Book of Remembrance will be open every day 9am - 4pm on normal working days. At weekends and Bank Holidays, it will be open 10am - 4pm. This includes Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Concerned about someone's safety or welfare?

If you believe that a child, young person or adult is at immediate risk, you should report this without delay to the police service on 999.

If they are not in immediate danger, you can do one of the following:

• Call the Contact Cares team on 01744 676767 and tell them that you have a concern about a child;
• Outside of office hours, call the Emergency Duty Team on 0345 050 0148;
• Call Merseyside Police on 0151 709 6010 (24-hour line);
• Discuss your concerns with a professional you can trust such as a health visitor, teacher or GP; or
• Contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000.

Who will answer the phone?

An EDT call handler will answer the phone and take details of the problem and your contact details. They will then pass this information over to an experienced and qualified Emergency Duty Social Worker.

Libraries across St Helens will close at 5pm on Tuesday 23rd December 2025 with St Helens Library and Newton-le-Willows Library closing at 1pm on Wednesday 24th December 2025

St Helens Library and Newton-le-Willows Library will be open in between Christmas and New Year.

Opening hours resume as usual from Friday 2nd January 2026 for all libraries with the exception of Haydock Library which will remain closed until March 2026, whilst it undergoes it's transformation into a SEND-friendly library. You can read about the temporary closure here.

All items that would normally be due back during the festive period will have an extended due date of Friday 2 January 2026. 

Online services are accessible 24/7 via our website and BorrowBox.