Mother to launch craft foundation in memory of son

A mother from Kent is launching a foundation in memory of her son to help others with disabilities learn high-end craftmanship.

Sammy Alban-Stanley, 13, died four days after falling from a harbour wall in Ramsgate on 22 April 2020.

The teenager, who had Prader-Willi syndrome and autism, was interested in carpentry and upholstery, so his mother wanted to create Sammy's Foundation to help others learn from craftspeople.

Sammy's mother, Patricia Alban, said: "These heritage crafts are very special, very unique and elite, and it's a world that I feel can open up to young people who probably are the most marginalised in our society, and that means a lot to me."

On Wednesday there was a pilot for the foundation and Ms Alban was hoping, as a collective enterprise in the future, it could take on commissions and create its own homeware brand.

Lily, who took part in the pilot, said: “There’s a lot of jobs that are quite hard for people on the spectrum to get into cause it's just a very busy environment and there's a lot of sensory things that don’t really agree with you, so I think something like this is probably better suited to it."

The foundation's official launch will take place in London in December, on what would have been Sammy's 18th birthday.

Rachael South, who is a chair caner and upholsterer, said: “There’s nothing better really than being able to pass on the joy and the happiness that this has brought me."

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