DURING the evening of Friday, October 8, local youth homelessness charity the Amber Foundation will host its inaugural Fundraising Fire Walk at its supported living centre, Ashley Court, in Chawleigh near Chulmleigh.

Participants will be challenged to face their fears by walking along a 20ft lane of fire.

Entry is £25 and all walkers are being asked to aim to raise a minimum of £150 each.

The fire lane event support and bespoke training will be provided by "Blaze-the Fire Walking Experts", who have been running fundraising fire walks for more than 30 years. 

Amber houses and supports up to 31 young people at a time at Ashley Court.

The young people who go to Amber are from across the area and are facing a range of complex issues including homelessness, long-term unemployment and mental ill health. These issues have only been made worse during the last 18 months.

The charity, which also works in Wiltshire and Surrey, opened its first centre in 1995.

Alongside a safe place to live and three meals a day, the young people at Amber follow a carefully designed programme to help them identify what is holding them back and equip them, both psychologically and practically to live independently.

Amber’s aim is that every young person is supported so they can move on to a job, a place in training or education and most importantly a safe, sustainable place to call home.

The pandemic has brought with it a lot of challenges as Becky Fry, Amber’s Fundraising Manager explains: “Disadvantaged young people have been hit hard by the pandemic.

"They have been among the worst impacted by job losses while successive lockdowns, isolation and uncertainty has played havoc with their mental health especially those who were struggling before the pandemic.

"We are now facing rising demand, young people with increasingly complex needs after a period when traditional fundraising activities and events have been tricky or impossible to organise."

This event was meant to take place over a year ago but like so many had to be postponed.

Here Becky explains why they decided to organise a Fire Walk: “Fire walks are ancient rituals and are about finding your inner strength and having the courage to face your fears despite challenges or self-doubt.

"The people at Blaze say that taking part in a fire walk helps transform fear and to inspire people to do things they didn’t think possible.

"I feel there is a lot about fire walking that chimes with our ethos at Amber.  A central part of our approach is to encourage the young people who come to stay with us that despite the challenges they face they have potential to achieve great things in life.”

There is still time to sign up, which you can do at: www.amberweb.org .

For more information please contact Becky on: [email protected] or call 07808 531699.