Doorstep’s longest serving staff member reflects as charity’s 33rd birthday is celebrated
It has been 33 years since Grimsby & Cleethorpes Area Doorstep became a limited company by guarantee, having first formed in the late 1980s as a response to the national publicity that youth homelessness was receiving.
Humble beginnings
Initially led by local church groups, Doorstep housing began as a voluntary lodgings scheme where people with a spare room in their home offered space to a young person in need.
As the charity grew, they were able to rent office space on Pasture Street and offer an advice clinic a few days per week, facilitated by volunteers. Having worked with private landlords to house young people, in a bid to raise the standard and permanency of their housing, Doorstep was gifted their first property: the flat above the office.
Since those humble beginnings, Doorstep has gone on to acquire more than 80 properties across the Grimsby area supporting hundreds of young people each year.
“A privilege and an honour”
Our longest serving member of the team, Adele, Senior Finance and Admin Worker, has reflected on her time with Doorstep and had this to say:
“I first came to Doorstep in 1993, in need of accommodation. I was accepted for a flat with my boyfriend (now husband) and received help with re-training. We were given help to gain a Housing Association flat with affordable rent so we were able to save to purchase our own property.
“After working in the Private Landlord sector, I never forgot the help that Doorstep gave me and I wanted to be part of that. I sent my CV in and to my amazement Doorstep needed an Admin & Finance Assistant! It felt like it was meant to be and I was over the moon to start working for Doorstep in 2003.
“Twenty years later I still consider it a privilege and an honour to be part of the Doorstep team, and work with people who genuinely care.
“Doorstep has managed to adapt and survive many funding changes and pressures, whilst remaining independent and keeping the needs of the young people of Grimsby & Cleethorpes at the heart of all we do. I pray it will always continue to do this.”
