Donate today at https://www.thedoor.org.uk/christmas and your donation will be doubled!
Hi, I’m Laura, a volunteer mentor at The Door. This is Millie’s story…
When I first met Millie (my mentee), she had just turned 11, secondary school was on the horizon and her school had referred her to The Door for some extra support. She was quietly frustrated, confused by the world and her place within it.
We’d meet once a week for a coffee (me) or hot chocolate (Millie) then sit and chat for an hour or so.
To start with we talked about getting ready for big school and what it meant to be growing up. I’d ask about what was going on in her life and she’d tell me about the challenges of her siblings, parents, and friends – nothing too complicated, just the usual teenager stuff.
A few months into mentoring, as we got to know each other better, Millie shared more of her story with me. She told me about how her parents had split up when she was little and how her mum was struggling to manage addiction.
I knew from the team at The Door that Millie was living with relatives after being removed from her family home, but for Millie to share it with me was a massive step for her to take. A real turning point in our mentoring relationship.
From there on we’ve continued to slowly but surely tackle some of the trauma in her history and focus on looking at what opportunities the future might hold.
We’ve started exploring her feelings about her family, thinking about the kind of relationship she can rebuild with her mum and of course we’re still drinking plenty of coffee and hot chocolate along the way.
It’s a privilege to be able to walk alongside her as she discovers the way she wants her life to be. And I’m so proud of how far she has already come.
Millie says “It’s difficult to talk about things with my family because they all have their own opinions about what we’ve been through. I feel safe with my mentor and I can trust Laura to help me see when I’m in the right or wrong.
I’m a lot less angry now that I’ve got someone to talk to. When something’s bothering me Laura helps me sort it out. She’s helped me be a lot calmer now and I think I understand my relationships a lot better too. Especially with my mum. I’m so glad that The Door is here to help people like me.”
Mentors like Laura support hundreds of young people like Millie every year. Donate to The Door today at https://www.thedoor.org.uk/christmas and your donation will go straight towards helping train 40 new volunteer mentors so that The Door can help even more young people like Millie.
And thanks to local businesses and trusts the donations you make at https://www.thedoor.org.uk/christmas will be DOUBLED if you donate before 12pm on Tuesday 6th December. So no matter whether your donation is big or small, it will go twice as far.
Thank you so much for supporting The Door.
