Amber set to AMPlify young people's voices

Homeless and unemployed young people at the Amber Foundation’s Residential Centre in Chawleigh have been given the opportunity to work with some of Devon’s finest musicians in a new project, ‘Amber Music Project’, that has been funded by Youth Music and will be delivered in partnership with ‘Music in Devon Initiative – MIDI’. 

The project will give young people the opportunity to listen to, make and create their own music. Research has shown that this can help people to express themselves, manage their emotions and  build self-confidence and self-belief.  All these are incredibly important for Amber’s residents as  most have experienced very challenging circumstances and are dealing with complex problems, thoughts and feelings.

“Music is a release, when I feel down I come to my room, whack on some Sevenfold and I can relax and escape reality.” Amber resident

Claire from Amber said, “We are really excited to be able to work with MIDI, they are such an innovative and passionate organisation and they have an amazing network of musicians who will be able to deliver a diverse range of sessions for our residents.  The residents have requested everything from rap, DJ’ing and rock to learning about music production and promotion. This wouldn’t have been possible without the funding from Youth Music and we are thrilled that we were successful in our application.”

The music project run at Amber will offer a range of sessions for residents, from introductory sessions, giving all residents the opportunity to listen to and try new styles and genres of music, to more focused one to one lessons and band/group sessions for residents who want to learn an instrument or create their own music. The project will also give residents the opportunity to work with and perform in and with local communities.  

Marie Belsten, Director of Music In Devon Initiative said, "We are delighted and honoured to be partnering with Ashleigh Court for this project. The Amber Foundation carry out amazing work with young people who need support to re-build their lives and move on to independent living. Thanks to this funding from Youth Music, the transformative power of creative music-making can now play a significant part in this process for these young people."

The project will run for just over a year. If you would like to help or support the Amber Foundation they are looking for donations of old musical equipment and any offers of support would be greatly accepted! 

For more information please contact Claire at Amber: Claire.miller@amberweb.org 01769 582020