Association La Porte Ouverte, or “Open Door” as it is more usually known, was founded in 2004 to provide a support service to all those suffering from the effects of long term illness as well as those who care for them. From it’s first opening our drop-in centre at 18 rue Pierre Pestureau, Civray in the French department of the Vienne, has proved very popular providing a cup of tea or coffee, a biscuit and a friendly welcome to all those who needed to use our services.
A short while after our opening we instigated our PALS Support Network. (PALS is an acronym for Professional, Amateur and Lay Support). The object of PALS is to provide a listening and counselling service particularly concerning problems of Bereavement, Family Crises, Isolation and Addiction. In order to assist in this enterprise we opened a 24 hour telephone answering service on 05 49 87 97 36. This telephone service is monitored frequently each day and any calls passed on to an appropriate counsellor/listener who is supported in their task by experienced personnel.
In October 2007 we set up a structured training course for all listener and counsellor volunteers and this is being run to N.V.Q. standard as a demonstration of the Association’s professional attitude to its role within the community.
In June 2006 the Association started a lending library of English books, audio tapes and DVDs available not only to members of the general public, but also to people who are staying in hospital or convalescent homes and who require books or magazines written in the English language. At the present time we have some 6,000 books and 600 DVDs & videos available for loan for an annual library membership fee of just 5 euros.
The Association assists a number of self-help support groups including support for people affected by Breast Cancer.
A number of social interest groups have been created from contacts made at our drop-in centre including a sewing circle and a reading group.
We have on occasion produced a number of information sheets concerning items of importance to the expat British community including information concerning the registration of a British motor vehicle in France, the French succession laws, French Income Tax and the Cheque Emploi Service.
Our statutes authorize us to support other like minded organizations and to this end we have been active in Breast Cancer Awareness month and have recently donated 500 euros from our funds to La Ligue Contra Le Cancer in Poitiers. In 2009 we supported the Alzheimer’s Society and collected gold and silver jewellery in whatever condition to donate to the Society’s Old Gold appeal.
In 2010 we are working with the English based charity Tools for Self Reliance to re-condition old tools to send to artisans in Africa.: more can be read about that project on this page.