Doorway has just celebrated its first anniversary. Launched on 7th February 2006 at a public meeting, Doorway has continued the work of the highly successful 2-year pilot day centre, North Wiltshire Homelessness Project.

Between last February and the middle of January 2007, Doorway has opened for 90 drop-in sessions and served 2004 meals to 191 individual guests.

The centre has also run 37 activity sessions offering IT training, music, arts and crafts workshops attended by 21 guests. Three learners are awaiting results of exams taken in CLAIT modules in IT skills. One, formerly homeless, guest moved on to study music at Chippenham College, after regular tuition at the centre.

Doorway, which is a dynamic partnership between The Salvation Army and CVS North Wiltshire, is working on plans to ensure that it will remain open to continue to develop more services which will teach guests new skills enabling them to "open new doors" and move on in their lives.

In 2006, Doorway launched the Friends of Doorway, a self-supporting team of volunteers in the local community who give time, energy or resources to raise the profile of the drop-in centre in North Wiltshire and to generate much needed funds. They organise social events (more information), including skittles evenings, barn dances and coffee mornings, and they are also raising money by collecting used mobile phones and ink cartridges that they can recycle from individuals and businesses (more information).

The Friends of Doorway plan, throughout 2007, to recruit more volunteers in order to ensure that their very valuable contribution to the funding of the drop-in centre continues. They are looking for people with a little time to spare to help with street collections and other events, as well as volunteer speakers willing to talk to schools and groups about the important work Doorway is doing in the local community.

Julian, one of Doorway's regular guests, attended the recent arts and crafts workshop. This is his feedback from the sessions:-

"I attended a weekly arts workshop at Doorway at the end of 2006 and found the experience very rewarding.

I had just been housed in Corsham and after living in an isolated field mostly for a number of years was wondering how Id manage living on an estate in town I didnt know.

The workshop really helped by providing a welcoming friendly environment where I could have some time to myself and after a few sessions found my weekday worries falling from me as I walked through the door.

Geoff and the volunteers were really good providing focus when it was needed but also allowing time to expand and explore other areas of interest and creativity (as well as having a laugh occasionally) and it was good to look at all the different approaches that other members of the group using paint and papier mache which itself I found quite rewarding as it requires some patience in its early stages but also is quite responsive to more spontaneous a treatment.

I was pleased with what I made at the end and felt I had learnt a lot by attending the sessions." › Julian's story

article added 10th June 2007