May 2012
Leading British talents give hope to young unemployed
Zandra Rhodes, Wayne Hemingway and iconic
photographer Rankin are among the industry leaders fronting a
national Prince’s Trust campaign to inspire a generation facing
record youth unemployment.
British beauty entrepreneur Liz
Earle, chef Gizzi Erskine and interior
designer Kelly Hoppen are also supporting the
youth charity’s Tomorrow campaign, which launches today and urges
employers to recognise young people as tomorrow’s industry
leaders.
Creating new products
The established faces will each mentor a young person, who has
overcome unemployment with support from The Prince’s Trust, to
create a product that will retail nationwide.
Major UK retailers, including T.M.Lewin, Zizzi
and QVC, will work alongside these well-known
public figures to provide support throughout the mentoring process
and offer expert guidance on aspects of product development and
retail. All the Tomorrow products sold as a result will raise
valuable funds for the charity.
Designer Wayne Hemingway MBE said:
If we invest in young people today, we’re
developing British talent for the future. Not every young person is
in a position to realise their potential but a campaign like
Tomorrow can help us reach young people who need encouragement and
support.
Interior designer Kelly Hoppen MBE added: “At
this time of record-breaking youth unemployment, we need to
cultivate young talent and give young people hope. By sharing my
experiences, I hope that I can help young people to pursue their
own ideas.”
Mentoring
Photographer to the stars, Rankin, has worked
alongside his own Trust-supported mentee, 18 year-old photographer,
Care Johnson, to shoot the campaign’s advertising images. When an
allergy to animals ruined her dreams of working with horses, Care
struggled to find another job. Determined to succeed, the teenager
created a job for herself, setting up as a photographer with help
from The Prince’s Trust.
Rebecca, aged 25, from Doncaster is being mentored by Liz Earle
MBE. Rebecca struggled at school and left aged 15 with no
qualifications. She scraped through a beauty course and moved from
job to job, not knowing what direction to go in. She settled at a
large department store but was shortly made redundant. Rebecca lost
not only her job but her home and resorted to staying on her
grandma’s sofa whilst carrying her first baby. Shortly after giving
birth to her son, Rebecca approached The Prince’s Trust and
received a loan to set up her own lash and nail business. Rebecca
went from being a homeless single mum to running a business which
currently employs eight local women. Under Liz Earle’s mentorship,
she will be helping to develop a new product for Liz Earle Beauty
Co.
A new website
The Trust is urging unemployed young people to visit a new
website, www.princes-trust.org.uk/tomorrow,
which provides advice, inspiration and support for those struggling
in the current climate. Joanna Lumley,
Jamie Oliver, James Caan and
Alan Titchmarsh are among those who have shared
their stories of how they reached the positions they are in
today.
Martina Milburn, Chief Executive of The Prince’s Trust,
said:
With more than a million young people out of
work, we must all take action to avoid a generation of young talent
going to waste. Young people need our support to be the industry
leaders of tomorrow. We hope the six young talents at the heart of
this campaign will inspire many more to achieve their
potential.
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