By Isabella McRae Big Issue Social Justice Reporter
Katya avoids thinking too much about Amy Winehouse. It takes her to a dark place. She is 27, the same age as Amy when she died of alcohol poisoning after a long and public battle with addiction.
There is so much tragedy in the story that Katya, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, finds it too painful. But in her own journey to recovery from addiction, she has found hope and friendship in the sanctuary set up in Amy’s name.
Katya lives in Amy’s Place: supported housing for young women who have left treatment for drug addiction. Established by Amy’s family in 2016, it is the UK’s only housing project set up especially to help young women recover from drug addiction.
“When I think about it on a deeper level, it’s beautiful that this exists,” Katya says. “It’s not beautiful in terms of the circumstances it came from, but for it to be here is a beautiful thing. There’s nothing else like it.”
A painting of Amy hangs on an olive green wall, rainbow bunting falling across the corner of the frame. A music room next door sees women sing and play instruments, and an open garden space is a point of pride on a bright spring day.
Usually 16 women live here, and they stay for up to two years. Each has their own flat, or shares with another resident, which they decorate and make their own.
Jane Winehouse, Amy’s stepmum and managing trustee of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, says, “There’s nothing better than seeing the young women that have come through Amy’s Place doing well. Some of them have gone on to have children or be reunited with children.
“Some of these young women didn’t think they’d be alive, let alone have children of their own. Some have really excelled in their work. It doesn’t matter what their dream is or what they’re doing, if they’re fulfilling their dream, it’s nothing other than fantastic.”
The Amy Winehouse Foundation was launched by the family in September 2011, on what would have been Amy’s 28th birthday. She had been a quietly charitable person and loved children, although she never had her own.
They began donating to children’s hospices and charities, and they were already working with rehabs. It was through this they realised there were gaps in the services for young people facing addiction.
“Something we heard time and time again was that women were frightened of leaving treatment,” Jane says. �
