Surviving, and other wins for 2020!

You don’t need us to tell you 2020 has been a year of twists and turns – not all of them expected, or easy! But thanks to you – our supporters,customers, amazing teams, families and trainees – we did more than just survive. We adapted, and saw the values of our organisation shine through stronger than ever.

Here’s some of the ways our community bossed it this year:

• Bright futures: In spite of the pandemic, more trainees transitioned into employment and internships than ever before – 12 in total! Here’s some feedback from Nano, who manages Steps graduate Sith at The Rembrandt Hotel: “The way he works is unique and sometimes better than us. I have learned how to apply and utilize his unique abilities for our organization.”
• Building skills: All our social businesses stayed open, offering training and employment opportunities throughout the year (except for the enforced months of closure in March/April)
• Digital wizardy: We didn’t want lockdown to get in the way of trainee development so we launched an online learning platform. It was a hit, so we’ve started building a bigger cloud based learning platform. We’re dreaming big: this could boost access to tailored education for the wider neurodiverse community
• Group hugs: we’ve been team building, strengthening our support structures, and empowering and training our employees
• Taking over Thailand, one branch at a time: We now have a new franchise on Phuket, at Headstart International School! 
• Expanding: 2020 saw the launch of our business service centre. Companies can outsource back office tasks to our trainees and graduates, giving them meaningful training and employment opportunities
• Moving closer to equality: Our first scholarship programme launched this year thanks to The Ford Foundation. The first trainees are due to graduate in Jan 2021
• Quenching thirst and satisfying munchies: Can you believe we’ve now served more than 50,000 coffees (51,536 to be exact)? And 10,282 pieces of cake! to be exact (not including all the cake I personally consumed).
• Getting out there: Our stands went to 21 events
• Media moments: Our work was featured in BK Magazine, Bangkok Post, Guru Magazine, Bangkok 101, BKK Kids, SENIA (podcast)
• New buddies: we built stronger local partnerships than ever before
• Status: We officially became a registered Social Enterprise!

We know there are more uncertain times ahead, but wanted to say thanks for all you have done for Steps in 2020. Together we can weather whatever 2021 holds.

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