September SMT Update from Intensive Support Manager Shona
As the time of year, and the weather take a more permanent shift into autumn, I am making a marked effort to be mindful of the changes in nature that are beginning to make themselves shown, taking time to feel thankful for the world around me as the colours of the world change, benefiting my mental wellbeing as I go.
We spend so much of our time rushing from one thing to the next and I am as guilty as the next person for not stopping some days and taking time to simply stop, breathe and look around. It doesn’t take long, but the impact of those minutes really matters and our bodies do thank us for those moments of focus and calm.
Willow, our wonderful community youthworker has been helping people do just that, with our new ‘Thrive’ programme (which Willow introduces here).
One part of Thrive focuses on the coping strategies that young people use in times of stress, anxiety and angst. Young people are very aware of their feelings and emotions and Thrive is helping them to give expression to those emotions, to understand them and look at positive coping mechanisms that will last them a lifetime. Creating life skills that have a positive impact on their wellbeing now and their emotional management for the future.
Willow also delivered an incredible session to the Intensive Support Volunteers at their regular Group Development meeting, looking at the coping strategies we use ourselves in times of challenge, why we use them and how they leave us feeling, linking the choices that we make and connecting that thinking to that of a young person in their time of challenge. Livestreaming the session for the first time, we were able to improve accessibility and had as many people online in the virtual room as we did in person in. Thrive is an apt name for this programme, given that we truly are supporting young people to find a way forward for themselves that will empower them, therefore enabling them to thrive.
This time of year also sees planning for our Celebration and Awards Evening shift up a gear – so much goes on behind the scenes before the actual event on Tuesday 3rd December (Save the date if you haven’t already!).
I never get tired of the buzz in the room, bringing together volunteers, funders, stakeholders, parents, carers, young people and staff in an evening of true celebration of achievements throughout the year. The Door gets to do what it does for and because of all of you and we are thankful to get to share our year with you in this celebratory way. Of course, a huge part of this event are our Golden Hinge Awards and nominations for those are now OPEN! There are several categories that you can nominate in and it just takes a moment to nominate someone you might feel particularly proud of or thankful for at thedoor.org.uk/hinge
I may very well have hit my word limit at this point (there’s only so much space in a newsletter) so I would just like to leave you with my hope that, as we step into cosy jumper season, you feel inspired to take time to breathe and offer yourself a little kindness – whatever it is that helps you to thrive
