- guardian.co.uk, Saturday November 29 2003 02.43 GMT
This time last year we had no idea that the Guardian readers' Christmas contribution would enable Fairbridge to light the lives and smiles of so many young people.
We live in a society where we expect young people to reflect the benefits of our relative wellbeing; some lose that opportunity and stay outside the mainstream. Your donations to us (£273,239, including gift aid) brought them experience and personal skills to gain the most precious gift of all, a belief in themselves.
In the first 10 months of 2002 Fairbridge worked with 2,779 young people who others found a big challenge. In the 10 months following your appeal, we have been able to increase that level of support to 3,379.
We wanted your donations to bring something new to our work, so some of it helped us to establish a team in Dundee and to open a centre in Rochdale, the fifth most deprived local authority in the country.
The huge response readers made to the feature about the adolescent mental health unit in Teesside meant we were able to develop this growing area of need. Our Cardiff team has been able to develop in this area and build the self belief of young people experiencing mental health problems.
We have also provided training for staff to expand links with mental health specialists nationally.
As a result of the ever-chang ing attitude and policy towards non-achievers in schools we found ourselves swamped with under-16s - some still in school, but at risk of exclusion, many outside sent to us by a variety of agencies struggling to provide alternative learning to this growing group.
Funding from you has helped us to ensure that we can also focus on the over-16s: 30,000 young people left school last year alone with no qualifications. You have ensured that we can intervene and make a huge impact at a crucial stage of their lives.
Recently, I walked with a lump in my throat beside 70 young people who travelled from Fairbridge teams throughout the country to dance and drum their way through London in the lord mayor's show - young people who had believed they could not achieve integration and harmony in their own lives, let alone produce a show that others enjoyed. The Guardian appeal has opened the door of opportunity and progress to hundreds like them. Thank you.
