January 2012
Royal visit for Prince's Trust young people
HRH The Prince of Wales met young people from
Barnsley who have turned their lives around thanks to support from
The Trust.
The Royal visit celebrated the launch of a new partnership
between The Prince's Trust and the University of Huddersfield to
help many unemployed young people in Barnsley, giving them the
skills and confidence to find a job or start their own business.
This comes as around one in five young people in Barnsley are
struggling to find work.
Rebecca Sykes, who set up her own photography business with
help from The Trust, was one of the young people to meet The
Prince.
Rebecca’s parents divorced when she was 17 and she left home to
live with her boyfriend. Shortly after moving out, Rebecca became
pregnant. Her boyfriend then received a four-year prison sentence,
which left Rebecca extremely low. She had always dreamed about
becoming a photographer, but struggled to find a suitable job.
Unemployment had a huge impact on Rebecca, who thought she would
never be able to achieve her dream.
Rebecca then came across The Prince’s Trust Enterprise programme and with renewed
confidence and funding, she launched Blush Photography in April
2008. Blush Photography has blossomed and Rebecca’s clients have
included RBS Insurance, Sugar Magazine and Greenflag. She also
helps to run a number of photography courses and training
sessions.
During her meeting with His Royal Highness, Rebecca handed him
her own photograph of Barnsley.
She said:
Meeting The Prince and handing him one of my
photographs of Barnsley is a real honour for me. Without The Trust,
I wouldn’t have had the confidence to start in business on my own.
I’m also really passionate about inspiring other Barnsley young
people to achieve their dreams, like I have done.
Sam Kennedy, regional director for The Prince’s Trust in
Yorkshire, said:
Having His Royal Highness here today to meet
some of our inspirational young people in Barnsley is
fantastic. They are a shining example of how young people can
turn their lives around no matter what their circumstances are,
with the right support.
The Prince’s Trust and Huddersfield University will be working
together to give unemployed young people support and funding to
start their own business through the university’s Barnsley
Campus.
Professor Bob Cryan, from the University of Huddersfield
University, added:
We are delighted to welcome The Prince here
today and are excited by the partnership between The Trust and the
University. The Trust does fantastic work across the region helping
young people into work and we hope to help many more in
Barnsley.
Jodie Noble, and Craig, from Barnsley who have set up their own
businesses with support from The Trust were also among those who
met HRH The Prince of Wales who is President of the Trust.
The Prince's Trust Enterprise Programme, which will be run with
Huddersfield University in Barnsley, has been awarded £762,000 from
the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness
Programme 2007-2013. The ERDF Programme is bringing over £500m into
Yorkshire and The Humber to support innovation, enterprise and
business support across the region.