So spring is in the air.

And with it comes the countryside bursting into glorious life, crazy four-seasons-in-a-day weather and, inevitably for many young people, exam stress.

At a time when there is an increasing focus in the media about the rise of mental health issues presenting in young people, the intense pressure being placed upon them to achieve results is something many are at this moment finding hard to handle.

Sure - we all know there’s nothing new about exam stress.  But teachers, themselves  under so much more pressure to achieve results , telling students that their GCSE results ‘will determine the course of their life’ is not a universally successful motivating strategy.

For students that aren’t academically inclined, especially those denied the outlets previously available to them of more practical GCSEs such as PE, Drama and Food Tech by the increased domination of written content in these courses, they are increasingly staring down the barrel of a prospect of being branded, and therefore feeling, a failure and written-off at the start of their adult life.

Fortunately at The Door we’re responding to these challenges, and you can read elsewhere in this newsletter about our Revision Cafés and Key Cafés and where our youthworkers can come alongside young people outside their school or college environments and help them to make real progress with work they are struggling with.

If you pray, please remember to pray for these young people over the next few weeks, especially those particularly known to you.  We know how much many of them appreciate being prayed for and what a difference it makes.

And let’s remember what The Door stands for.  We believe that a young person’s past does not determine their future, and are committed to helping them unlock their potential and to open up opportunity.

Graham Gill - Operations Director