Member Article

Creating Chances with The Prince's Trust

The Northstar Foundation has provided The Prince’s Trust with a £10,000 donation, to support its work in the North East.

The funds will be used to deliver The Trust’s Enterprise Programme, which focuses on supporting young people into self-employment. The programme offers participants training, one-on-one mentoring, advice and start-up funding, as they launch their own businesses.

In 2016 The Prince’s Trust worked with over 3500 young people in the North East, giving them the skills, knowledge and motivation needed to succeed.

This is the second year running that The Foundation has partnered with The Prince’s Trust: in 2016 The Foundation also donated £10,000, enabling The Trust to support 14 young people into self-employment.

The Northstar Foundation was set up to support entrepreneurship and social enterprise across the North East, which it does through a number of charitable commitments.

Meet Adam, a graduate of The Prince’s Trust’s Enterprise Programme.

Adam, 24, from Stockton-on-Tees, was four when his parents separated and seven when his mother died. His brother and sister became his legal guardians and returned home from Australia to bring him up in the family home on a deprived street in Stockton. He struggled at school with dyslexia and left aged 15. A month later, his father died.

Adam gained several vocational qualifications, but ended up taking dead-end jobs just to make ends meet. Then, aged 21, he became a single father with joint custody of his son and new financial responsibilities.

Motivation has never been an issue for Adam. He needed a job that could fit around childcare and would still afford him quality father and son time – self-employment seemed like the perfect solution. He joined the Enterprise Programme and with The Prince’s Trust support launched his gardening business, Adam’s Garden of Eden.

Working tirelessly, Adam has built up a strong reputation and is now taking bookings three months in advance.

For more information about the programme, contact The Prince’s Trust on 0800 842 842. For more information about The Northstar Foundation, visit Northstar Ventures’ website.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Laura Richards .