HSYAReview2024 - Flipbook - Page 5
The Amber Foundation
Eikon
Big Leaf Foundation
Young people who have experienced
childhood trauma, or escaped domestic
violence, too often become homeless.
Sleeping on sofas or in hostels, they
struggle to find work with devastating
effect on their self-confidence and
mental health. It’s a vicious spiral
that’s hard to break. That’s where
Amber comes in. We provide a
temporary home at Farm Place and a
programme of support that helps
young people transform their lives
for good. Last year, 88% moved on
from Amber into independent housing,
with a job or back into education or
achieved a major goal such as a Level
2 qualification.
Eikon is helping young people to feel
safe, heard and supported. We listen,
we talk and we help young people with
the skills they need to live their best life.
We aim to provide a nurturing
programme of activities, projects and
events that combat social isolation
and improve the wellbeing of displaced
young people aged 15-25 living in Surrey.
Thank you to the High Sheriff Youth
Awards for their donation towards the
Team Leaders at Farm Place delivering
employment readiness workshops such
as Building Confidence & Resilience,
Finding Employment, Interview Skills,
Identifying workplace values and
behaviours and Recognising & building
personal skills, as well as supporting
the young people to gain qualifications.
With HSYA support, young people have
gained employment at highways
maintenance, customer service,
marketing and IT in the last year.
Eikons summer transition programme
supports vulnerable young people in
Elmbridge who are at risk of school
dropout. We are incredibly grateful to
the HSYA whose support has helped
enable the provision of 1:1 sessions,
summer holiday workshops and an
away day for the young people at High
Ashurst Learning Centre. The
programme was a great success! The
young people grew in confidence, selfesteem and learnt friendship, emotional
wellbeing and practical skills. 96 % of
the group are still in school and using
the skills they learnt to navigate the
challenges of secondary school.
“The double breathing strategy we
learnt is really helpful for mental health”
(Young person)
“YP had his first day of school today and
has come back in good spirits so the
course worked perfectly as no nerves at
all” (Parent)''
Thanks to generous support from a
HSYA, we provided a full month of
Summer School activities in August
2023, meeting increased demand, and
expanding provision for those in hotel
accommodation. We ran sessions at
Surrey Outdoor Learning and
Development to build communication
skills, visited Guildford Cathedral where
many prayers for peace were placed on
the prayer tree, and organised a Sports
Day promoting teamwork with
dodgeball, netball, and various garden
games. A week hosted at Surrey
University with police officers, nursing
students, junior lawyers, and local faith
leaders (focused on Living Safely in the
UK) was particularly significant,
challenging preconceptions and helping
rebuild trust in authority figures. ‘A’ told
us: "In my country, police don't play
games and help people. I don't like
them in my country, but here I do".
For more information on Amber’s work
with transforming the lives of young
people, visit: www.amberweb.org
Quote from HH Judge Robert Fraser
“I always recommend Amber rather
than pass a custodial sentence”
.
5
