Young Carer, Amélie's, Ballet School Dream

14 year old Amélie Jones has been a Young Carer all of her life but dreams of becoming a professional ballerina.

 

Amélie has been accepted into one of the UK's top ballet schools 'Kings International Ballet Academy' in Barwell, Leicestershire, to start on their 2 year Professional Dancers Foundation course  in September. The Young Carer, from the Isle of Wight, was offered one of only 5 full-time places available in each year group - an incredible achievement! Amélie loved it at Kings and knows it's where she needs to be to enable her to achieve her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer.  She trains twelve and a half hours a week in ballet, with Joel Morris at the Joel Morris Dance Academy - it is he who initially encouraged her to apply to Kings.  

 

Amélie has been a Young Carer for her dad for all of her life, and she knows no different. She has had to see sights that no child should have to, and the constant worry has been terrible for her. Ballet has been her form of escapism - a place where she can go and forget about what's going on at home and express herself through what she loves doing the most in the whole world.

 

Her dad, Tom, suffered from the debilitating illness FND (Functional Neurological Disorder), which meant he was housebound for a lot of her childhood. He'd have regular seizures, stroke-like episodes, paralysis, loss of speech, spastic legs, and permanent chronic fatigue.....to name a few symptoms. He was sometimes bedbound and spent days and months in hospital at times. The family's income suffered hugely as her dad could no longer continue to work, and her mum had to reduce her working hours significantly to care for him. Three years ago, doctors diagnosed her dad with a heart condition called 'Wolf Parkinsons White' - this had gone undiagnosed since birth. Since then, he underwent an operation to fix his heart and has continued to improve - it seemed it was the cause of his FND. He has slowly been able to rehabilitate back to good health, although he will never get back to what he was before the illness took hold; however, the years of illness took their toll on his mental health, and this area remains a constant challenge for him.

 

Amélie is a real inspiration - she has never once complained about everything she's had to deal with in her role as a Young Carer, and, at times, it's been horrendous for her. She has also never let it stop her from striving to be the best that she can be.....she is fiercely driven and extremely hard working and dedicated when it comes to her ballet.

 

At £10,000 a year, money is the only thing holding Amélie back from being able to accept her place at Kings (accommodation, academics, uniform, travel, competitions and food are all additional extras). They are not Government funded like some bigger ballet and dance schools, meaning no MDS (Government-funded scholarships) are available. Kings can therefore remain small (they only accept up to 5 students per year group a year) and deliver bespoke, individual and world-class ballet training to their students.

 

Autism features strongly in Amélie's family, with her older sister having an autism diagnosis and needing a lot of support. Amélie has certain traits, such as selective mutism, which is another reason why the intimate nature of Kings would suit her so well. It is a place where she would flourish, and she is desperate to go.

 

If you feel you can help in any way at all to make Amélie's dream happen, she would be grateful beyond words. If you have time to share her story, that would be equally amazing. Thank you, and we will keep you updated every step of the way.