One of the projects and new relationships we are most excited about growing and supporting at V+S is joining forces with the incredible team at The Amber Foundation. 

The Amber Foundation is charity that works tirelessly to help homeless, unemployed young people from the ages of 17-30 who are in need to move on to a positive independent future.

Family break down, drug abuse, mental health, bad decisions are only some of the reasons that can redirect a young person’s life in to an abyss of difficulties that can be hard to move on from.

The Amber foundation has created a number of centres across the UK that can support, train in areas and encourage young people to find strength and inspiration to move on and up with their lives to secure work, housing and a bright future.

Here is an inspiring case Study from one of the many young people to be redirected in their life by the incredible team at Amber:

Gordon arrived at Amber – Bythesea Lodge in 2011 aged 25.

“I was in a pretty bad way – my relationship had collapsed, I’d lost my home and my job – it had hit my mental health hard. I was depressed, had really bad anxiety and had even started self-harming. I sometimes found myself losing control. I remember one time I was staying with a lifelong friend, (she’s like my adopted mum) chopping up wood with an axe – I just started smashing stuff with it – I couldn’t stop. I never hurt anyone but my friend found it really scary (unsurprisingly) and she called the police who turned up with Tasers.”

The police saw that Gordon needed help and recommended Amber as they thought the programme of support would be just what he needed.

“Coming to Amber was a bit of a wakeup call – I struggled with being told what to do. Before my relationship fell apart, I was doing really well. Earning good money as a drainage engineer, I lived in a nice flat in a manor house and drove a flash car. I used to be someone who would give a homeless person on the street a fiver – never thinking I’d ever be even close to that situation. The fall from grace was a punch in the face.”

Gordon spent 9 months at Bythesea Lodge and benefited hugely from the structured development programme.
“It was a reality check and I had a few slip-ups but slowly I was able to accept my situation and feel less frustrated about it. Amber taught me that if you’re given lemons you can make lemonade. By the end of my stay I was helping with the ‘dreams and desires’ sessions, helping other residents work out what they wanted to do with their life and start to plan how to achieve it.”

After he left Amber, Gordon wanted to give back somehow so got a job as a support worker, a role he stayed in for four years. He then decided he wanted to go back to engineering, which is what he was doing before coming to Amber and he currently works at a local company as a senior drainage engineer. He’s lives in a comfortable flat in Warminster with his wife but he’ll always remember the help he received at Amber when he needed it most.

“I’m in a good place now – happy and stable – but I was a liability before. My stay at Amber gave me the tools I needed to make a success of my life. If it wasn’t for the help, I had at that time I think I’d be in prison. If I win the lottery, Amber’s getting a million pounds!”

5% of  the profit made at Vigour and Skills is donated to the Amber Foundation.

Please find here a link to read more about the opportunities and challenges for Amber and ways you can help – https://amberweb.org/what-you-…