Generous Yorkshire Post readers aid youngsters' bid for a better life

That's how many pounds were raised for the Prince's Trust by the Yorkshire Post Christmas Charity Auction, which will help transform the lives of thousands of people across the region.

Revisit the auction lots and check winning bids

Studies have shown that in three years the charity, which provides grants, loans, training and support to disadvantaged young people, has used 2.5m of public money to deliver a 40m boost to the Yorkshire economy.

But never before has the charity's work been so badly needed, as the Yorkshire Post found yesterday when it joined 12 young people looking for help with their careers.

Money from the auction will be used to fund projects like the Prince's Trust's "Get Into" courses, which offer introductions to disciplines including construction, decorating and social care.

Andrew Farley, the charity's head of fundraising in Yorkshire, said the economic downturn led to a 50 per cent rise in applications from young people nationwide in the past six months.

"Typically in Yorkshire, there are about 3,500 young people who we support each year but this year we are trying to support 4,000 simply because of the need that's out there.

"It's crucial, the support that the auction has provided. Every payment counts because, if we double the amount of money we raise, we can double the number of young people we support.

"We believe that every young person deserves the chance to succeed with the Trust but we are in real danger of seeing a lost generation unless we intervene."

The auction, sponsored by accountancy firm Grant Thornton, gave readers the chance to bid for 100 lots donated by celebrities, businesses, charities and generous well-wishers.

They included exclusive access to arts events, hotel stays, foreign trips and the opportunity to become the Yorkshire Post's business editor for a day.

Richard Jackson, chairman of the Prince's Trust's development forum for Yorkshire, said that, in raising more than 26,000, the auction would help a wide range of projects, including business start-up schemes and skills sessions for teenagers who have lost interest in their school studies.

"Seventy-nine per cent of the young people we work with go on to have a positive outcome, finding themselves in education, employment or training, " he added.

"We are looking to help about 4,000 people a year in Yorkshire but the target audience is up to 100,000 so we are only scratching the surface.

"The money raised by Yorkshire Post readers will be well spent and it is going to make a massive difference to young people's lives.

"Because funds from the public sector are being squeezed, there is now more reliance on us being able to attract more private sector funding, so holding events like this auction is something we have to do each year."

Mr Jackson added: "We are very grateful to the Yorkshire Post team and, in particular, the readers for their help with this event."

Barrie Harmer, a design consultant from York who paid more than 800 for five auction lots, said: "I tend to go to a number of auctions, especially wine auctions, but the Prince's Trust auction was an opportunity to combine my enjoyment of auctions with a good cause.

"The Prince's Trust has been going a long time, but sometimes you need to remind people about its work and it's good that the Yorkshire Post brought it back into the spotlight and was instrumental in raising so much money for good causes."

Case study: 'It's not nice when people look down on you'

Struggling to find work and surviving on benefits, Nicola Ashton was one of thousands of young people who found life difficult before discovering the Prince's Trust.

Despite being a qualified hair stylist, Miss Ashton, 21, found it hard to get a job because she has little experience of working in a salon.

But a Prince's Trust course, run by Age Concern Training and funded by Yorkshire Forward, has given her a new ambition – to help care for vulnerable people.

Like many other young people in the region, she signed up to a Prince's Trust project after the Christmas auction was publicised in the Yorkshire Post.

Miss Ashton, of New Wortley, Leeds, is now almost halfway through a six-week "Get Into Social Care" programme, which provides training in first aid, food handling, health and safety, and how to care for people with dementia

"This is our third week and I'm loving it, " she said. "I've been volunteering in a community centre craft fair, but it's not nice when people look down on you because you're claiming benefits and it's not easy to deal with.

"I still want to work with hair but in a care setting. I want to carry on studying in health and social care, and I would like to get some work experience or an apprenticeship."