Luke’s Story

Luke was born with a 4% chance to live due to a heart condition and just wanted to be treated like everyone else. He joined Inspire to make new friends as his recent move to Felixstowe had meant he’d had to leave his old life behind.

Here is Luke’s story:

My name is Luke Chambers, I am 21 years old.

Before I started Team Programme, I moved from Harlow to Felixstowe. I was worried I wouldn’t make any friends as I was leaving 20 years of my life behind.

I did the Team Programme to meet new people. I have speech problems, cerebral palsy and left-side weakness, so I was always conscious of what people would think of how I walked and how I spoke.

I really liked working as a group during the programme as it was then that we got to know each other and I met one of my close friends.

I had to have an operation half way through the course and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to finish because I thought I’d need to stay at home for a few weeks to recover. After I did my work experience I went straight into the operation. While I was in hospital, all the team were texting me and I was keen to come back to show everyone who was worried about me that, if I can come back from the operation, nothing can stop you.

The tutors helped me get a job at Tescos – I’ve been there for 7 months now and have been able to make even more friends. The experience helped me develop my social skills and my confidence in myself. Before I didn’t have much confidence as I kept applying from jobs and never heard back and was starting to get depressed.

Inspire helped me become who I am now – I couldn’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me.

Luke recently won Inspirational Young Person at the Inspire Staff and Student Awards. His determination to set down solid foundations and overcome challenges is inspirational and we can’t wait to see what he does next!