The Prince's Trust was founded in 1976 by The Prince of Wales. Having completed his duty in the Royal Navy, His Royal Highness became dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged young people in the UK, and began The Trust to deliver on that commitment.

The Trust has become the UK's leading youth charity, offering a range of opportunities including training, personal development, business start up support, mentoring and advice.

1976
The Prince's Trust is launched. 21 pilot projects are set up around the country. Grants are given to a 19 year old women to run a social centre for the Haggerston Housing Estate in east London, and for two ex-offenders to run a fishing club. Funds hire swimming baths in Cornwall to train young life guards and for a self-help bicycle repair scheme.

1982
First fundraising concert takes place, raising £72,000. Bands helped, funded or started by The Trust play alongside established pop stars including Status Quo.

1983
The first Prince's Trust Rock Gala is held at the Dominion Tottenham Court Road, with Madness, Joan Armatrading, Phil Collins, Kate Bush and Pete Townshend. Rock galas continue through the '80s.

Business start-up programme is launched for the young unemployed. Within three years, 1,000 businesses are trading and 80% surviving the first year of existence.

1984
Week-long residential events are held at holiday camps around the UK, drawing hundreds of deprived young people. Camps continue annually for 13 years, and in 1996 an international version is held in France.

1985
The Prince of Wales Community Venture is launched - an intensive 42-week programme, containing a mix of challenge, outdoors activity teamwork, and community care. This later developed into the Volunteers programme.

1987
Jim Gardner is appointed as Chairman of Trustees and Tom Shebbeare as the first full-time director of The Prince's Trust.

1988
£40 million appeal is launched in The Prince's 40th birthday year, to be matched by the government to a total of £80 million.

1990
Launch of The Prince's Trust Volunteers programme, a 12-week personal development programme for 16-25 year olds, both unemployed and employed. By 1995, 10,000 young people have completed the programme. By 2000 the figure is 50,000.

Study Support is launched, providing underachieving pupils with after hours study centres. The initiative is taken up by the Government in 1997.

1994
First residential music school takes place. It evolves into the nationwide Sound Live programme, teaching young unemployed about the music business.

1996
The Trust holds the first rock concert in Hyde Park for over 20 years. This marks the start of a long-term strategy to establish a link between The Trust and young people's passions - music, fashion and sport.

New initiatives are launched: mentors for teenagers leaving care (1998); a scheme to target young offenders; xl clubs to motivate 15 and 16 year olds and keep them at school (1998); opportunities for travel and exploration in Europe; and a programme in partnership with VSO to provide six month-long international opportunities (July 2000).

Development Awards - originally one-off £100 or £200 grants - are shaped to incorporate ongoing guidance and support. By 1998, groups of young people can apply for grants up to £15,000 to develop their own projects in the local community.

1997
The Prince's Trust pilots a Team project supported by the Premier League, Football Foundation and Professional Footballers' Association which would later be rolled out to include more than 60 clubs from across the four professional leagues.

1999
The various Trust charities are brought together as The Prince's Trust. This is recognised by HM The Queen at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace, when she grants it a Royal Charter.

2000
The organisational structure of The Trust changes, being devolved. There continues to be a national strategy for the UK as a whole, but Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and each of the English regions now has it own fully-accountable Director and Council.

2001
The total number of young people who've been helped in some way by the Trust reaches 400,000 people. The total receiving sustained help per year reaches 25,000.

2002
The Business programme hits a milestone with its 50,000th young person supported into self-employment.

The Trust announces a £5M investment over three years to help the 30,000 a year who leave school with no qualifications and low basic skills. Total young people supported reaches 450,000.

2003
The 10,000th Development Award is given. Now a leader amongst charities in staging innovative fundraising events, The Prince's Trust holds the first Fashion Rocks at Royal Albert Hall, with world class music artists and fashion designers sharing the stage. The event raises £1.1 million.

2004
The Prince's Trust, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, releases a landmark piece of research, Reaching the Hardest to Reach, profiling the young people being left behind by UK society.

The Trust launches a new series, Celebrate Success, honouring achievements of young people and volunteers with a series of regional and country events culminating with a national event attended by The Prince of Wales, celebrity Ambassadors, press and many others.

2004 also saw the launch of the Urban Music Festival, a cutting edge, interactive event which sells out over two days at London's Earls Court, drawing 30,000 to make it the UK's largest urban music event.

2005
The Premier League, Football Foundation and the Professional Footballers' Association re-confirm their commitment to The Prince's Trust by pledging a further £2m, extending the partnership until 2008. To date almost 10,000 young people have benefited from the initiative.

2006
The Prince's Trust turns 30, celebrating in several groundbreaking ways:

• Our first national fundraising and advertising campaign
• A special 30th Birthday concert at the Tower of London
• An ITV documentary, 'The Prince of Wales: Up Close', profiling the Prince and his work with The Trust
• A three hour live televised event on ITV, hosted by Ant & Dec and featuring a world exclusive first interview with all three princes - Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry

2007
The Trust launches a landmark study which calculates the Cost of Exclusion. A new initiative Breaking the Cycle makes progress towards helping ex-offenders.

This year also celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Football initiative. Fashion Rocks returned to The Royal Albert Hall.