One Donation Twice The Difference: thedoor.org.uk/christmas
This is Josie’s story
“I was surviving, not thriving when I came to The Door for help.
I’m Josie, by the way. I’m 17 and I have a mentor from The Door.
During my GCSE’s I felt disconnected from the world, like I was living in my own bubble, I just felt numb to everything. My mentor says it’s called feeling apathy.
Looking back I think it’s just the way I’ve been dealing with life. It’s not always easy to be at home, things can get… complicated sometimes and no one really listens to what I have to say.
So with that and all the stress of school I think some of my feelings just felt too big to ‘feel’. So I squashed them deep down instead, pushed them to the back of my mind.
I did it so much that I just stopped feeling anything.
When I finished school last year I didn’t really know what to do. I didn’t have any passions or prospects so I just went along to college with everyone else.
My course is OK, it’s nothing to get excited about, I just sit at the back of the classroom and do what I can and that seems to keep everyone else happy.
I was telling my mentor this during one of our sessions, we go out for hot chocolate after college once a week, and she asked if I was happy.
I said I didn’t know. It was then that I started noticing how bottled up I was.
I said I wanted to know how I was feeling and my mentor said she would help.
At our next session she brought along a game about emotions for us to play, and then one week we did some drawing together. I’ve also been able to go along to some equine therapy sessions.
It means spending some time with horses. To be honest with you I was a bit scared to start with – the horses are really big! – but now I’m used to them and they are used to me and I think it’s starting to work.
With the horses and the games and the time with my mentor it’s getting easier to talk about my feelings. And sometimes I really can ‘feel’ again.
It’s been almost a year since I started mentoring at The Door, and I’m a totally different person now (in a good way!) I didn’t used to tell my mentor much in our sessions but now I can’t stop!
I’m really glad that I asked for help from The Door and would recommend it to anyone that needs to talk.”
This December you can help match young people like Josie with the dedicated support they need from a mentor. And for one week only every pound you donate will be doubled thanks to the support of local businesses, individuals and trusts. So please if you are able donate to The Door’s Christmas Challenge between 12pm on Tuesday 3rd December and 12pm on Tuesday 10th December and together we can help young people get talking again.
Thank you
Donate today at thedoor.org.uk/christmas