A unique new charity aimed at giving holistic support to families in need has been launched with the help of local MP Simon Hart.
The AmberDen Foundation, based in Whitland, helps families who are dealing with major impacting illnesses by offering a range of complementary therapies.
“We support them by giving advice, listening and holistic therapies,” says co-founder Frank Connor-Hughes.
“It may be that a family member has had a stroke, suffers from Alzheimer’s, dementia or cancer. So often the support and care is all aimed at the person suffering, but we know that it is really important to care for their loved ones too as they may be feeling that they have to always be the strong ones.”
The charity is based at Enigma Hair Salon in Whitland which has given over its therapy rooms for the Foundation to use every Monday.
Therapists volunteer to give their time in return for basic travelling expenses and clients are asked for a donation to help cover costs.
“This is a free service, we only ask people to donate if they can afford to, it is quite hard to get across to people that it really is free,” added Mr Connor-Hughes.
“We are giving them time and giving them support which in turn gives them strength to help their family deal with the situation.
He and co-founder Kerrie Williams set up the charity because of their personal experiences. Mr Connor-Hughes lost his three-year-old niece Amber to cancer and Ms Williams’ mother Denise also died from the disease.
Ms Williams said: “This means so much to me, I lost my mum five years ago and there wasn’t much support then for families, I just feel like I need to give something back.”
“So far we have seven therapists volunteering from counsellors to homepaths but we are keen to have more,” added Mr Connor-Hughes. The charity is also happy to take self-referrals from families in need and has a Facebook page to publicise its work.
They gave local MP Simon Hart a tour of their therapy rooms when he launched the charity. He said: “As far as I am aware, this is a very unique charity. It will provide a wonderful source of support and comfort to families from Pembrokeshire or Carmarthenshire who are in need.”
*For more information check out www.theamberdenfoundation.org.
PIC CAP: Simon Hart MP is pictured launching the AmberDen Foundation at Enigma Hair Salon in Whitland with (l to r) therapist Steve Oakden, Frank Connor-Hughes and Kerrie Williams. The Foundation offers support and free therapies to families from across Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire dealing with major impacting illnesses.