Hello, who are you? And what is your job at The Door?

Hello, I’m Mary and I am The Door’s new Director of Operations.

Excellent, so, what does that mean?

It means I have an overview of all things operations. That’s finance, HR, admin and facilities, as well as being Company Secretary. Simply put, it’s all the behind-the-scenes things that make The Door’s services possible. I am also a member of The Door’s Senior Leadership Team, helping support our Trustees and CEO to keep things running smoothly.

I understand that working at an organisation with youth at the centre is nothing new for you.

No it isn’t, I’ve spent much of my career working in higher education, so, one way or another, young people or indeed their parents have been involved. Whether my years as a Resident Warden in halls or a stint on the parent hotline for a university, there is nothing a student could do that would shock me by this point!  I also had the privilege to work in fundraising to enable students from disadvantaged backgrounds to come to University and am still blown away by both the generosity of people who want to support young people and the incredible resilience, determination and courage young people show to overcome sometimes enormous hurdles to achieve their potential.

I’ve also been a Christian for even longer, and this role at The Door brings the two together.

In fact, I felt called by God to move to Stroud a few years ag,o and now I’m hoping, trusting, praying and believing that this role is the ‘why’.

Amazing! So, as a relatively new member of the team, what has been the best thing about being at The Door so far?

Meeting all the wonderfully enthusiastic and dedicated staff, and amazing young people.

And what has been more of a challenge?

I think wanting to embrace all the brilliant and great ideas but only have enough time and resources to do some of them.

Certainly a challenge for most people, now onto the less sensible questions…

Excellent!

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of time, what would it be?

Oh.. um… pasta! Because you can put anything with it.

And what about sports – do you follow any?

Yes – I’ve a very keen armchair sports fan.  I especially enjoy… Road Cycling, Tennis, Athletics and Golf.

All good choices

Oh, and the Lumberjack Championships – we discovered those during Lockdown, and they are great fun…

Of course

Of Course!

And finally, is there a Bible verse you would like to share?

Yes….The one that sums up how I aim to live and who I depend on – ‘May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.’ (Psalm 19 v 14)