Kent Mother Establishes Craft Foundation in Son’s Memory

A woman residing in Kent is establishing a charitable foundation dedicated to her late son, aiming to provide individuals with disabilities the opportunity to acquire advanced craftsmanship skills. Her son, Sammy Alban-Stanley, who was 13 years old, passed away on 22 April 2020, four days after an incident involving a fall from a harbour wall in Ramsgate. Sammy, who lived with Prader-Willi syndrome and autism, had a passion for carpentry and upholstery. This interest inspired his mother, Patricia Alban, to establish Sammy’s Foundation, with the goal of enabling others to learn from skilled craftspeople. Ms. Alban stated: “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.” A pilot program for the foundation was conducted on Wednesday. Ms. Alban expressed her aspiration that, in the future, the initiative could evolve into a collaborative venture capable of accepting commissions and developing its own line of homeware products. Lily, a participant in the pilot, commented: “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 official inauguration of the foundation is scheduled to occur in London in December, coinciding with what would have been Sammy’s eighteenth birthday. Rachael South, a professional in chair caning and upholstery, remarked: “There’s nothing better really than being able to pass on the joy and the happiness that this has brought me.”