Faithful Servants

Association La Porte Ouverte

The association is better known as Open Door and has been known to us since the early beginnings of the Chaplaincy. Its mission is to provide support to people who are suffering from the effects of long term illness, whether as a sufferer or carer, and is available to everyone. It is an entirely voluntary organisation.

July 2011

The Willow Tree is a charity set up to offer confidential counselling and caring support to anyone in distress due to a crisis pregnancy, or following pregnancy loss and to promote understanding of the issues surrounding crisis pregnancies and abortion. It also provides information to enable young people to make healthy lifestyle choices.

It is an entirely volunteer based organisation that supports men, women, and family members personally experiencing such issues.

An affiliation with Care Confidential allows access to online support which might be helpful www.careconfidential.com

Dreaming the Dream…

We are continuing to explore our dream of setting up a Mum and Baby Unit. We have made contact with another Christian Charity who work with vulnerable adults and have already established a Mum and Baby Unit in Wiltshire. We are hoping to visit this unit and see if there are opportunities for partnership working in the future.
As we prepare for the future we are aware that we need to strengthen the structure of our charity by changing our charitable status and expanding our Board of Trustees. Please contact us if you are interested in becoming a Trustee and have skills to offer the team.

‘ Shine as lights in the darkness….’

Have you ever been facing difficult circumstances and not known which way to turn? This is the situation for many of the clients we see at the Willow Tree Centre. Here are two stories: (names have been changed to protect their identity)
Katie was in her 20s, when she found out that she was pregnant, she felt very alone, saw our advert in Yellow Pages and contacted us for help. An advisor spent an hour talking to her, offering information to help her make a decision. Katie chose to keep her baby and we have been able to provide her with baby clothes, equipment and toys which Katie has appreciated.
Although Tracy wanted a baby, pressure of circumstances and lack of support made her feel that abortion was her only choice. She was referred to us by her GP for post abortion help. Afterwards she wrote ” I was in a very dark and hopeless place, your support has turned my life around in a very positive way. I can’t thank you enough for giving me hope and making me feel like a human being again.”