I’m already dreading all the Christmas newsletters I’m going to receive droning on about this bizarre / crazy / challenging year…

16 weeks ago, when we could meet whoever we wanted, hug whoever we wanted and go wherever we wanted (remember that?) The Door was only 3 weeks away from a position where we would have had to make drastic and heavy-hearted decisions about scaling down our work.

And then lockdown came.

The next phase was just a whirl of plate-spinning, as the world continued to change around us, our staff and volunteers raced to innovate and evolve, to keep our support services running and even increase capacity when most others were backing off and shutting down.  Amid our own context of furloughing staff, voluntary wage cuts and emergency funding applications, we were busily Zooming around setting up online youthwork delivery, virtual mentoring and a brand new telephone support service as well as creating  wellbeing resources for isolated teenagers and exasperated parents alike.

So 16 weeks on, where are we now?  

Well, we move forward financially stronger thanks to a miracle in an online auction room and the extraordinary generosity of people like you making the ‘Keep The Door Open’ campaign beat its target and do exactly what it said on the tin.  We are amongst the first charity shops to reopen in Stroud and have an epic (brand new!) YouTube channel. Extraordinary support being delivered by our mentors, and we have a programme of outdoor youthwork coming together for the summer.

Like everybody else, we have no certainty about the future (although we do know who holds it).  It’s been a difficult time for all, and the longer-term economic consequences are beginning to bite.  So we especially want you to know how very grateful we are to you all for standing with us, and hope that with your continued help we can emerge into the next extraordinary phase of The Door’s work.