Amber Foundation
Amber Foundation supports young people aged 16 to 30 who are homeless or unemployed, and who are on community or probation orders or who have been released from custody.
It aims to provide them with all the support and opportunities they need to create a better future involving a job, a place in education or training, and a safe and sustainable place to call home. Amber Foundation owns and runs four community-based residential centres.
Size:
- Runs four centres – all in England
- Serves around 180 people each year
- Expenditure was £2.6m (to end April 2022)
- 66 staff.
Age: Founded in 1994
Proportion of charity’s expenditure covered by the evaluated programme: 100%
Charity number: 1051388
Why the Good Giving List recommends Amber Foundation
We recommend Amber Foundation on the basis of an evaluation by the Ministry of Justice Data Lab. That assessed the 12-month re-offending rate, and also number of proven re-offences during a one-year period, and concluded that Amber Foundation’s work reduces both of those. Amber Foundation only runs one programme, so that evaluation covers all of its work.
More about Amber Foundation’s work
Amber offers “a supported housing environment that’s a little bit different. Not just training and support to address specific personal issues but new experiences and opportunities that raise aspiration and challenge residents to take responsibility for their lives and move forward positively.”
It runs four residential centres – in Devon, Wiltshire, Kent and Surrey – which provide a safe and nurturing environment for young homeless people with complex needs.
Each centre can take 30 people (the newest one in Kent, which opened in 2022, is a little smaller). The clients are in teams of up to 10, led by a Team Leader who is their mentor throughout their time at Amber.
The centres deliberately mimic working life: there is a full-time programme during five days a week, which includes training and activities, e.g., life skills, cooking (for everyone in the centre), community engagement, work experience, and creative projects.
Amber centres have a weekly timetable, which focuses on four areas:
- accommodation;
- employment;
- health and wellbeing;
- fun and participation.
On average, young people stay 6-12 months but there is no fixed limit. Around two-thirds move into education, employment or training. Of the young people, 72% are 17-24 years old; the rest are older. Amber Foundation owns its four centres out-right.
Young people come to Amber Foundation on their own volition, or are referred by family, probation, prisons or the NHS. Some are from the area local to the centre, but they can be from anywhere: some would rather move to a centre away from their existing network.
All photos credited to the charity