Our Aims & Objectives

Our Values

Doorway accepts and values diversity in all people, and is committed to a policy of equal opportunities in all areas of its business.

We believe that time should be given to working with people who wish to fulfil their personal potential and participate fully in society but find it difficult to do so for whatever reason.

Service users are known as ‘Guests’ rather than ‘Clients’, which defines the relationship we wish to achieve.

Our Vision

We believe that homeless and marginalised individuals are capable of change and will only achieve their full potential when offered a safe, supportive, empowering and non-judgemental environment – it is our vision to provide such an environment and meaningful activities which will help reverse the spiral of homelessness.

Our Mission Statement

To realise this vision, Doorway will strive to:

provide a warm, safe, non-judgmental environment.
train staff and volunteers to engage with guests and form professional boundaried relationships.
use these relationships to promote growth in guests’ self esteem, confidence and aspirations.
provide information, support and, where necessary, practical help that will empower people to make and act on informed choices arrived at by themselves.
provide activities within the centre which are likely to enhance guests’ skills and raise self-confidence as a first step towards changing their lives.
encourage and empower guests to become involved in the running of the centre, and in forums designed to give service users a voice.
promote the needs of homeless and marginalised people locally by means of high quality PR, thereby helping to reduce discrimination towards them and influencing the local community to become more supportive and less judgemental.

Our Key Objectives

In order to advance Doorway’s aims and objectives, our plan has been to:

work, via our drop-in facilities, with individuals above the age of 16 (and their families and friends where appropriate) who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, exclusion or disadvantage because of their lifestyles, and to support the resolution of any issues they may have with substance abuse.
provide activities which help individuals to develop life skills in literacy, numeracy, IT and financial management and to gain self-esteem, confidence and a sense of wellbeing through meaningful recreational pursuits and therapies. Thereby, enabling them to move on in their lives away from dependency into self-sufficiency via employment, education or training.
signpost guests towards housing, social care and treatment options.
offer complementary therapies to enhance guests’ wellbeing.
raise local awareness of the needs of the homeless and socially excluded people, and increase the ownership of the project by the community.
generate funds for all of the above by charitable or commercial means.

“Doorway continues to improve and grow. As a drugs and alcohol agency worker who attends weekly I feel we are able to engage people who are difficult to reach and we regularly take referrals for people who want help with their substance misuse, signpost and give advice and information.
Doorway is a safe and efficient project, well managed and effective. It provides a co-ordinated and positive meeting point for all kinds of people, vulnerable and otherwise.

The sense of community it engenders provides much needed solace to the isolated
Workers and volunteers have a non-judgemental and friendly approach that enables people to feel good about asking for help.

It’s a one stop shop for a person in crisis who can access help with housing, employment, substance problems and much more.

To have so many kinds of people, some of whom can be volatile, meet and eat in the same space is an achievement to be applauded.

I want a similar, smaller project in my home town to model itself on Doorway which to my mind is a model of excellence and should be rolled out across the land as part of a solution to the increasing problems of our age.”

Gail Foster, Wiltshire Substance Misuse Service