This month’s Director’s Chair is from Business Development Director – Barrie Voyce

For the team at The Door the start to 2020 has been mixed. From financial successes to staff illness and teams of new volunteers to a spike in referrals we have continued to be challenged in what is often a quieter month.

We were delighted to receive two grants totalling £22,000 from the Cotswold Primrose Trust – one towards continuing our successful school holiday activity programmes across our youth centres, and the other to turn our telephone support service pilot into a permanent fixture which will be know as “Gateway to Mentoring”.

This service will still be supported by volunteer mentors and we are excited to have 15 enrolled on our February course, all enthusiastic to learn and ready to support those in need.

This is especially timely as yet again we have seen a spike in referrals into our mentoring services.  A trend we are familiar with as we see young people and their families responding to spending time together over Christmas, increased exam pressures as mocks loom large and new year resolutions to get help come into play throughout January.

Moreover funding for intervention services is becoming harder to secure, the amazing Door Step programme we piloted last summer which supported young people in transition from primary to secondary school is a case in point – at their graduation celebration the stories of the impact of the project brought our visiting dignitaries to tears – unfortunately due to the strains on the NHS, we were unsuccessful in our attempts to have the programme re-commissioned for 2020.

On a more upbeat note The Door Shop had its highest ever takings in 2019 and we have been pleased to receive a number of minor grants in recent weeks. But the situation remains unstable, and our fundraising team are working really hard on grant applications, events and activities to boost our finances.

We have a small but loyal band of individual, corporate and group supporters, and we know that when we take to the streets armed with collection buckets the public is encouraging and generous. 

As Christians we have always had faith that God will provide exactly what we need to do His work, and much prayer is going into discerning how to match the ever increasing needs and the challenge of raising the funds to deliver high quality services. If you pray, please pray with us.

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