Amber

It is humbling to hear the words "if it wasn't for Amber I don't think I'd be alive today" yet they are words we hear far too often. Amber has been helping homeless unemployed young people since 1995 to transform their lives from one of chaos and living on benefits to one of responsibility and work. Young lives that have missed out on education, been affected by drugs, alcohol, broken homes or been involved in crime.

Young people like Darren who was kicked out of home and sleeping on a park bench and Rachel who had a history of drug addiction and drug related crime. Darren is now a Duty Manager at a leisure centre and Rachel works as an administrator in a local company. "Words can do little to express the gratitude my wife and I feel towards your organisation" wrote Rachel's parents.

Amber has two residential centres in the south west where we give these young people a chance to sort out their problems and develop the confidence, practical skills and qualifications they need to get a job or place at college and their own accommodation. Our philosophy is simple and unique. We focus on practical teaching, responsibility, respect, setting goals and working to achieve them, and on helping to address all their problems as opposed to concentrating on any one particular issue. There is no set time that they stay with us as everyone progresses at there own pace but it is about six months.

While at Amber young people, known as Amberteers, take part in a range of activities and training to prepare them for work or college and maintaining their own accommodation. They gain qualifications in adult literacy and numeracy, they help with community projects, they do sport and art and music, they help with environmental projects on our canal boat, they do the cooking and general maintenance in the house and very importantly, they learn to respect and support each other which is just as valuable as the more practical skills we teach. They can also gain work experience at our small business enterprise, Amber Dextrous - a second hand shop, reclamation yard, house clearance and car valeting service that provides training in a variety of tasks including self employment.

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