Gateway 4 Women is a Centre offering holistic support to women aged 18 years and over in a safe and welcoming women-only environment. We support women around a multitude of areas including housing and housing related difficulties, benefit enquiries, domestic abuse, and social isolation, to name a few. We provide support to women through 1:1 support appointments as well as offering several personal development courses aimed at building confidence and self-esteem. In addition to providing support, Gateway 4 Women offers a weekly timetable of social activities such as Arts & Crafts, Coffee Mornings, and Activity Afternoons; each providing the opportunity to meet new people, gain friendships, build social skills and confidence and with the aim of reducing social isolation and improving overall wellbeing. Gateway 4 Women also houses several social enterprises - Luna Nails and Bongo's Coffee Bar, both providing training and voluntary opportunities for women to learn new skills, gain work experience and build confidence.
Gateway 4 Women unfortunately had to close the Centre doors in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing any face-to-face support. We adapted throughout this time and staff members continued to work from home providing telephone support as well as text, email and online support through the use of Facebook and Zoom. We have continued to run weekly Arts & Crafts sessions, Coffee Mornings, and Quizzes online via Zoom, giving some sense of normality and providing the space for clients to interact with staff members and each other. These last few months have been a very difficult time for all, with many struggling with their mental health due to heightened levels of anxiety, feelings of loneliness and isolation. We have seen an increased need for our service throughout this time and have seen a growing number of referrals.
Gateway 4 Women are delighted to have now re-opened and are able to welcome women into the Centre once again! We have made all necessary adaptations to ensure the safety of everybody accessing the Centre in accordance with all government guidelines and policies and are implementing a phased plan of resuming our timetable of activities.
Whilst we have had to place restrictions on numbers accessing the Centre to allow for social distancing, and have introduced a new booking system, we are delighted to be able to expand our service having taken on the upper floor of the building. This will allow us to accommodate more women into the Centre at any time and will allow us to continue to provide the much needed timetable of activities to those accessing the service.
We hope to be able to create a warm, welcoming and comfortable space in this new area, as we have done so in the main Centre. To do this, we would love to be able to raise the funds to re-floor this new area also including hallways and staircase and would greatly appreciate any support to do so.
Gateway 4 Women x