THE Amber Foundation residential centre at Ashley Court in Chawleigh recently benefitted from the help of a number of volunteers from Tesco who spent a day at the centre.

The Amber centre is one of three similar residential centres in the country which supports homeless, unemployed people aged from 17 to 30 years.

The centres are calm and nurturing places where trained and experienced Amber staff provide a mix of support, structure, new experiences and training so that young people can build their motivation, self-discipline and skills.

The day started with a meeting and presentations, including one from The Turning Tides Project CIC based in Crediton.

The Community Champions then spent the afternoon finding out about how Amber supports homeless, out of work young people to transform their lives and their futures.

They met some of the current residents, had a tour of the site (including seeing the poly tunnel funded by the Tesco Bags of Help Scheme) and learnt about the Amber programme.

The team then got stuck-in staining the fence around a decking area on site.

Andrew Drayton, Community Champion for the Crediton Tesco was one of more than 25 Tesco team members who took part.

Andrew said: "When it was first suggested that local Community Champion meetings were being held at venues of organisations that we work with I immediately thought about The Amber Foundation.

"Not only do they have their own premises and were able to host the numbers, they are an organisation that does great work and really do make a difference to young lives, helping young people turn around their circumstances for a brighter future."

It was a fantastic opportunity for Andrew to introduce his fellow Community Champions from Devon and Cornwall to an organisation the Crediton store has worked with locally.

Becky Fry, Fundraising Manager at the Amber Foundation explained: “Working with business means so much more to us at Amber than simply fundraising.

"Businesses support us in many ways, including supporting us with volunteering and engaging with our residents.

"We were thrilled to welcome Tesco Champions to Ashley Court, as they were so interested in our young people and our programme – it was a pleasure to have them here for the day.

"The volunteering session finished everything off brilliantly.

"Our site needs regular maintenance so we really appreciate the help with the decking. I look forward to working with them again soon.”

Amber’s programme helps residents address any specific issues that may be holding them back and find the self-belief and determination to move forward to positive, independent futures.

For more information about how you can support Amber or how to refer a young person (including self-referrals) please visit: www.amberweb.org or telephone 01769 581011.