Who is The Prince’s Trust?

Around one in five young people in the UK are not in work, education or training. Youth unemployment costs the UK economy £10 million a day in lost productivity, while youth crime costs £1 billion every year.

The Prince’s Trust addresses this by giving practical and financial support to the young people who need it most. It helps develop key skills, confidence and motivation, enabling young people to move into work, education or training.

The Prince of Wales’s charity has helped more than 600,000 young people since 1976 and supports over 100 more each working day. More than three in four young people The Trust helped last year moved into work, education or training. Further information about The Prince’s Trust is available at www.princes-trust.org.uk or on 0800 842 842.

The Prince’s Trust particularly works with: 1. Unemployed young people A wealth of research indicates that lower educational attainment and lack of formal qualifications make it much more difficult to secure full-time employment. To help those with few or no qualifications to build skills, confidence and find employment, The Trust provides personal development opportunities. To assist young people trying to move into a job, training or education - but lacking the money to do so – The Prince’s Trust gives Development Awards. 2. Young people underachieving in education 5.4% of 15 year olds in England leave school with no qualifications and nearly 25% have fewer than five GCSEs. To combat school-related challenges such as truancy, exclusions and poor performance, The Trust runs xl clubs within 300 schools across the UK. 3. Young people leaving care Approximately 8,000 young people leave care more vulnerable than most. They are more likely to have no qualifications or low basic skills, or be unemployed or homeless. 4. Young offenders and ex-offenders According to a Home Office survey, 3.95% of the 16-25 population have offended. The Prince's Trust does not run programmes exclusively for young offenders and ex-offenders, but its programmes help them break the offending cycle and fulfil their aspirations.

Programmes to support young people The Prince’s Trust runs programmes that encourage young people to take responsibility for themselves – helping them build the life they choose rather than the one they’ve ended up with: The Business Programme provides money and support to help young people start up in business. The Team Programme is a 12-week personal development course, offering work experience, qualifications, practical skills, community projects and a residential week. Get Intos are short courses offering intensive training and experience in a specific sector to help young people get a job. Development Awards are small grants to enable young people to access education, training or work. Community Cash Awards are grants to help young people set up a project that will benefit their community. xl clubs give 14-16 year olds who are at risk of truanting, exclusion and underachievement a say in their education. They aim to improve attendance, motivation and social skills.