Introducing...Matthew Taylor

Matthew Taylor is one of those young people who you meet and immediately you can see huge potential. He comes from a truly inspirational family.

Over the past 10 years, Matt's parents, Amanda and Paul, have cared for over 40 foster children. A Kids Under Cover bungalow assisted them to increase the placement capacity within their house. We have supported Matt and his family since Matt was 10 years old.

Now 19, he wants to begin his career as a multimedia designer. Severely dyslexic, Matt did it tough in his early teenage years getting involved with the wrong crowd in the city and in trouble with the police.

At the age of 15, Matt made the decision to turn his life around. This was when Kids Under Cover supported Matt with a Kids Under Cover bungalow and scholarship which included the purchase of computer equipment, metcards and study fees.

After Matt graduated from his multimedia course, Mercury Megaloudis, Photographer of the Year 2008 and long term Kids Under Cover supporter, offered Matt a job as a photographic assistant. Matt now has the necessary work experience the industry requires and is pursuing his career as a web designer. We are proud to say that Matt now has his own clients and is thriving is his chosen profession.

In recognition of all his achievements, we are delighted to announce Matt as our first ever Young Ambassador. Through the Young Ambassador Program Kids Under Cover wishes to recognise young people who have made a valuable contribution to Kids Under Cover, encourage greatness in young people and provide opportunities to represent Kids Under Cover in public events.

Matt says "I have been appointed Kids Under Cover's first Young Ambassador to show kids that it is possible to avoid being homeless and get out of difficult situations. Being homeless you lose a lot of advantages in life. Living on the streets is not the way to go. KUC do have a lot of programs to get kids back on track. And they got me back on track. With the bungalows and scholarships kids can actually make something of their life and continue going forward rather than staying where they are. Some kids go along in life thinking what they've got is what they've got. There's more out there for you – you just have to go looking for it."