A Farewell Post

This may be more of a personal blog than you've been used to reading from A Way Out. 

It is my last day of work at A Way Out, the sun is shining, a new season is (hopefully) just around the corner and this is my farewell blog- a look back over the last fourteen or so months that I've been working here and a ponder over what I have learnt and what memories I will be taking away with me.

A Way Out is a remarkable, unique and inspiring charity. It is only ten years old (birthday on June 25th!), has just twenty-two members of staff (the vast majority of which work part-time) and it is working at a time when funds are being cut and purses are being drawn tighter. However, despite these potential challenges, A Way Out is growing in influence, impact and awareness.

When I started just over a year ago, we had three followers on Twitter, our Facebook page didn't exist and I don't think Pinterest had been invented! We now have hundreds of amazing followers who are engaging with us and showing their support through retweets, sharing posts, becoming volunteers, running events or joining the staff team!

I believe that A Way Out has always been doing amazing work in Stockton and the great thing about being in my position is that I can now see how many more people have now heard about that. I love to be able to hear about a new project, or an amazing life-changing story or a fantastic group activity and be able to turn that into a post that you can all read.

I am staggered by some of the stories that I hear from my colleagues about the situations our service users are living in on a daily basis, Katie and Daniel's stories are not exaggerations, they represent so many young people that we work with. But A Way Out is making a difference. Last year we reached hundreds of vulnerable young people and were able to offer them hope in dark situations, wholeness in the face of difficult family backgrounds and freedom from life-controlling addiction. 

And this is all down to the people. Our team is made up of an odd assortment of people from all across the UK with a wide variety of backgrounds and passions. We like to surf, do graffiti, travel, take photos, go to the gym, bake cakes, play live music, kayak, organise parties, go camping, look after our grandchildren... the list could go on. But one thing we are all really passionate about is reaching vulnerable women and young people in Teesside and seeing lives changed. Whether that is the Finance Administrator or the CEO, everyone has a heart for the work of A Way Out. I think that is one of the main reasons why this charity is so remarkable and inspiring and that is the biggest thing I will miss.

I have loved being a part of this charity and I will take away so much from my experience. And I will definitely be keeping up with what happens next because I think it's going to be very exciting...

Will you be following too?

Love from A Way Out x

(Jenny)

p.s. next week the Love From A Way Out blog post will be coming to you from Robyn, our wonderful new Marketing Assistant. She is brilliant!