Amber
Amber joined aged the Royal Army Medical Corps in 2005. After basic training and medical school, she was posted to Afghanistan where she was part of the Heli-med evacuation teams. This was followed by trips to Kenya, Canada and Brunei. She also worked in the medical centres at Pirbright and Tidworth. Amber married a soldier and their son Brandon was born in 2011, but sadly the marriage didn’t work out and the couple separated.
Due to two knee injuries sustained on duty, Amber was medically discharged in 2016. Additionally, she was diagnosed with PTSD and on being discharged she struggled to find somewhere to live. Her mental health declined and she ended up becomig homeless with her five year-old son, who also has disabilities.
Help for Homeless Veterans, a member of the Cobseo Housing Cluster, stepped up and provided a one bedroom bungalow as a stop-gap to get her out of hotels and hostels. Thanks to the charity’s agreement with Doncaster Council through its Community Covenant work, and the council’s link with social housing provider St Leger Homes, Help for Homeless Veterans was able to immediately offer Amber and her son a home in South Yorkshire.
Amber remained in the property for just over two years. Since then, she and her son have returned to East Anglia to a new-build social housing property.
Amber said: “You have given us both a home and given us hope again, but also the support we both needed. You helped us get out of sleeping in random hotels and hostels.”
