Our impact

The difference we make in the lives of young people with disabilities in Sussex.

Two smiling young people posing for a photo together at one of our youth groups
Amazing Futures has been supporting disabled young people since 2016. 
Watch videos from young people talking about the difference Amazing Futures has made in their lives: 

25 years of Amaze videos 

Amazing Futures can help you: 

  • make friends 
  • be more confident 
  • get your voice heard 

We can also help you: 

  • gain work experience 
  • be more independent 
  • achieve your goals

We can help you have the information you need to make choices in your life 
Here are some facts from a year helping young people, in 2022 to 2023. 
We supported 359 young people. 
We had 34 fully trained peer support volunteers. 
We ran 309 activity sessions for young people. 
We held 80 careers advice sessions for young people. 
126 young people attended our workshops. 
We had 153 Compass Card offers across Sussex. 
Here are some things young people said about how Amazing Futures helped them:
“The impact Amazing Futures has had on me is that it has helped me with a lot of things and I am absolutely amazed by it!”  
“Amazing Futures have helped me be more comfortable in social situations.”   
“I lost my PIP (…) and thanks to Amaze I got it back. I can now afford to keep my assistance dog, Axl. He calms me down and helps me get out of the house.”  
“I’ve made a lot of friends at Amazing Futures – I hadn’t been able to make them before.” 

Amazing Futures is proud to have been directly supporting young people with disabilities and additional needs in Sussex since 2016.

And Amaze, the charity which runs Amazing Futures, has been supporting families for over 25 years! In 2022, as part of our 25th birthday celebrations, we invited Amazing Futures young people to share about the difference we’d made in their lives:

Watch the full videos in our 25 years of Amaze playlist.

Peer support volunteer Brandon has been part of Amazing Futures since the very beginning. He’s shared his story here:

Brandon's story (click to expand)

Brandon stands in the conference room looking straight at the camera with a smile, holding a plate of food and a glass of chocolate milk. I’ve been part of the Amazing Futures Peer Support Project in Brighton from the start in 2016. Before I found Amazing Futures I felt sick, anxious and lonely. I’ve made a lot of friends at Amazing Futures – I hadn’t been able to make them before. But getting together with people in the activity sessions helped me to make a lot of friends. A lot of friends!

I went on to train as a Volunteer Peer Supporter helping at the young people’s groups. We did board game sessions, painting, drama that sort of thing. In the beginning, it was a bit nerve-wracking doing the groups and training. Really scary to be honest but I got through. Going through it made me feel confident.

Amazing Futures has helped me develop my leadership skills in other ways, too. I recently trained to become one of the volunteer Walk Leaders, welcoming young people on walks along the seafront and in local parks. This was fantastic.

I’ve been involved with lot of physical activities and help others join in – Brazilian dance and music sessions, yoga, sports sessions in the park and the running group. Doing the Santa Dash dressed up as Father Christmas along the seafront in December 2022 was brilliant, I really enjoyed that. The best thing about Amazing Futures has been taking part in all these activities.

I’ve liked having a say in how to help improve Amaze services as well as services in the city. Through Amazing Futures, I also took part in the National Citizenship Award that was offered to young people at Amaze.

Amazing Futures has helped me with interview skills and doing a CV. I did everything with Dara at the Amazing Futures Career Service which was great. I’ve been working in Screwfix for about five years now and have been helped to get work experience with the Co-op – hopefully at the end of the ten weeks they will offer me a job! I still volunteer for the Amazing Futures Peer Support Project.

I feel good, very good about my future.

In 2022-23...

153
Compass Card offers
359
young people supported
34
peer support volunteers
309
group or activity sessions
80
careers advice sessions
126
attended workshops

Amazing Futures helps young people:

  • make friends
  • be more confident
  • get their voice heard
  • gain work experience
  • be more independent
  • achieve their work and learning goals
  • have the information they need to make choices in their life
young people, including a young man in a wheelchair, pose in dynamic poses at Community Base in Brighton.

“The impact Amazing Futures has had on me is that it has helped me with a lot of things and I am absolutely amazed by it!”

“Amazing Futures have helped me be more comfortable in social situations.”

“I lost my PIP when I told DWP about an extra diagnosis and thanks to Amaze I got it back. I can now afford to keep my assistance dog, Axl. He calms me down and helps me get out of the house.”

“I had such a great time getting to know everyone on the Birmingham trip - I know I can be quite quiet at first in groups, but this helped me open up.”