Wheels of fortune for the people with trust in a Prince

As the Prince’s Trust celebrates its 35th anniversary, Sarah Freeman catches up with some of the early recipients of the grants and asks what happened next?

While in the mid 1990s, the country was beginning to emerge from the shadow of recession, unemployment was high and for those out of work, the future was bleak.

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Stuart Price was one of the many thousands frustrated by the lack of opportunity. A keen cyclist, he had come up with an idea to turn his hobby into a business, but lacking the capital to get it off the ground he went to work instead as a part-time labourer on building sites.

“I couldn’t get a full-time job. I knew what I wanted to do, but working out how to do it was much more difficult and I was struggling to make ends meet,” says Stuart, who turned to the Prince’s Trust and successfully applied for a grant and loan totalling £2,000 to start a mountain bike hire centre in the Yorkshire Dales. “With that money I was able to buy 10 second-hand mountain bikes and enough equipment to get things off the ground.

Running my own business felt like a leap in the dark and the practical support the trust gave me was as vital as the money.”

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Fifteen years on, Dales Mountain Biking has come a long way since those first second-hand bikes. Based in Fremington, near Richmond, Stuart soon realised there was a demand for guided mountain bike tours and has now qualified as a guide leader.

Along with his wife Brenda, the couple have also opened a new centre which includes accommodation for up to 14 people as well was a cafe and bike workshop.

“We now employ six people at the centre and five freelance guides,” he says. “Mountain biking has never been more popular. There are now people coming from all over the world to Swaledale and I hope we have had a positive impact on the tourist trade here. It just goes to show you what a little bit of help can do and the impact it can have on the local economy.”

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Stuart is one of the success stories the Prince’s Trust is keen to highlight as it celebrates its 35th anniversary this week. Founded by Prince Charles in 1976 when 21 pilot projects were set up around the country.

It was a time of deep social unrest – the economy appeared to be in freefall, inflation had soared and the winter of discontent was just a couple of years off. While the landscape of Britain has changed dramatically in those three decades and a half, the prospect for many youngsters has not.

Once again the country is feeling the effects of economic crisis and for those who left school without qualifications or who have big ideas, but no financial support from parents, life is difficult.

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Just as it did in those early days, the trust is there to help give direction, support and in many cases cold hard cash.

The organisation admits that not all the young people who each year receive grants and loans will end up, a decade down the line, with a thriving business. However, almost half the trust-supported ventures successfully trade into their third year and beyond and for some the experience is life changing.

Back in 1986, Nel Whatmore was unemployed, living in a Leeds bedsit and trying to make ends meet selling her handmade cards. A small loan from the Prince’s Trust allowed her to move the business up a notch and soon she had stalls in the city’s Bond Street Centre and Wakefield Ridings Craft Market.

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“It was hard,” says Nel, who is now 48-years-old. “I didn’t have any money and couldn’t get a job. I wanted to earn my living as an artist and while I knew that was going to be difficult I decided to start small by making the cards and selling them to independent shops. The grant and the mentoring I received through the Prince’s Trust gave me the kick-start I needed.”

Having secured financial support, Nel visited several national exhibitions and made contact with Washington Green Fine Art Publisher and Ling Cards, both major players in the creative industry.

Having raised her own profile, Nel gradually began to expand her range of products and now sells her paintings, ceramics, textiles and homeware online to a global market.

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“Many of the customers I had 25 years ago I still have today,” says Nel, whose second range of textiles is due out in September. “I don’t think I would have even have got started if it hadn’t been for the trust.”

Today, about one in five young people in the UK are not in work, education or training and the situation shows little sign of improving. However, with youth unemployment costing the UK economy £10m a day in lost productivity, the need for action has never been greater.

As well as the grants and loans made to young entrepreneurs, the trust also runs literacy and numeracy courses, its XL programme, which was set up to act as a safety net for those at risk of exclusion from school, has benefited 65,000 14- to 16-year-olds and its business mentoring scheme has proved invaluable.

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“As a former business mentor for the trust, I have seen first-hand how the charity helps to inspire and motivate young entrepreneurs,” says Business and Enterprise Minister, Mark Prisk.

“Advice and support from mentors can give young people the confidence and knowledge to turn their ideas into a successful business. The Prince’s Trust is helping disadvantaged young people create the next generation of businesses in this country, and it continues to have a crucial role in driving growth in our economy.”

One of those who knows just what a difference the trust’s financial and personal investment can be is Huddersfield’s Darren Baker. He approached the organisation 11 years ago when he was trying to establish himself as an artist.

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Unable to afford the basic materials he needed, he applied for support from the organisation’s Business Programme and was awarded a £1,500 loan.

“Before getting help from the trust I was living at home and didn’t have a lot of money,” he says. “It was a very difficult time and I didn’t have much confidence, so it was hard to make a name for myself. All I wanted was to be an artist.

“The money I received helped me buy materials and market myself and the advice they gave with networking really opened doors for me.”

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Since those early days, Darren, who specialises in classical realism – paintings which look like photographs – has established himself as one of the country’s most in-demand artists. Ten years ago he was appointed official artist of the Professional Footballer’s Association and he is one of a select band of artists who have been commissioned to produce a portrait of the Queen.

Similarly, high profile is the story of Steven Frayne, the Bradford street magician known to most these days as Dynamo. Seven years ago when no bank would take his business plan seriously, the trust stepped in.

Having learnt magic from his grandfather he soon found himself far from the city’s Delph Hill estate, performing tricks on the celebrity circuit. In recent weeks, trailers for Dynamo’s new television show have been impossible to ignore.

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“That initial loan allowed me to buy a camera and a computer. I filmed my tricks, uploaded them onto the internet and word began to spread,” says the 28-year-old. “But more than that, the Prince’s Trust believed in me and that was worth more than any amount of money.”

Trust needs £40m to keep up good work

Last year, 81 per cent of the 42,000 young people who were helped by the Prince’s Trust successfully moved into work, education, training or volunteering.

Since the charity was launched in 1976, it has helped more than 600,000 young people.

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Of the money it receives 84p out of every pound is spent directly on developing and delivering services for young people.

The trust employs more than 630 people across the country and has a network of about 7,000 volunteers.

In order to continue its work, the organisation needs to raise £40m this year alone.

For more information visit www.princes-trust.org.uk

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