The issues around a young person's long term unemployment are often complex and their approach is based on helping the individual as a whole, not on tackling specific issues only. What Amber provides is the opportunity to find all the help and support under one roof that will help them to make the life changes they so desperately need and want.

Accredited training courses are taught in a practical way, whether it is adult literacy and numeracy or tenancy and housing related issues. Broader, transferable skills are developed in Personal Development and Team Work and Leadership courses that involve personal fitness and a wide range of outdoor activities.

Does it work?

The overall objective is to improve the condition of life of the users - but it has also been successful in reducing the incidence of crime and anti social behaviour.

Their track record shows that Amber works. By the end of 2005, 80% of the young people who completed the Amber programme left having found a job, a training course or in a few cases having achieved a major personal goal. That's 128 young people who have transformed their lives from one of chaos and no hope to one of independence and a brighter future.

Case Study

I was just 20 and I had spent the previous 3½ years addicted to heroin and been in trouble with the law. I realised that to have a chance of getting my life together I needed to get away from my home town and the 'old crowd'. My probation officer told me about Amber and made the referral.

When I first went I was scared stiff. For the first time in my adult life I was facing up to reality and to a life without drugs. The future seemed uncertain and I did not know what to expect from the place. All I knew was that if I wanted to get my life together I had to hold on. From day one I was involved in all sorts of activities. My team went on a conservation trip to Lundy Island, the whole house joined together to do a circus performance, I went on fundraising events and met some of the Amber benefactors. These things gave me a sense of what was available to me if I started to live life on life's terms.

It was not always an easy ride. I suffered from uncharacteristic depression, especially when I first detoxed from the drugs I had been taking. The staff at Amber were very supportive and encouraging and I am not sure that I could have survived the time without them. Peer support was also so important and I made some brilliant friends. I was continually amazed at how talented some of my peers where. I met some truly great musicians (singers, DJs, rappers, guitarists - you name it) and some great artists. Some people seemed to have a knack for public speaking, others where great footballers. In such an intense environment, you are bound to meet some amazing people.

Since leaving, my life seems to have got better and better. After doing some training to update my skills, I landed an office job in Marketing. I worked there for 18 months and then started working at one of the local Drug Treatment providers as the Courts Co-ordinator. I now see my old solicitor every day (no joke), only this time from the right side of the dock!!