It all began in 1976, when HRH The Prince of Wales had a bold idea. Having completed his duty in the Royal Navy, His Royal Highness became dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged young people in the UK. He founded The Prince’s Trust to deliver on that commitment.
Team 50
The Princes Trust Peterborough offers a wide variety of courses. They are just about to start their 50th Team programme course at the base in Werrington. Team leader Kim Chapman has been delivering the course here for the last couple of years, having previously delivered the course in Wisbech, and before that, East London.
I feel this course can be life changing. The young people aged between 16 and 25 come on the course for a variety of reasons. There is no entry requirement, other than being unemployed and not currently in education or training. Over a 12-week period the group take part in teambuilding activities. This includes sessions at an outdoor centre, to gain skills of working together to solve problems. During this time they can also work on leadership skills. These will help when the group move on to plan, fundraise for and complete a community project. The onus is on the team members to project manage the entire thing from start to finish.
Work Placements
Having built skills, the group then move on to gaining skills in the workplace with a two-week placement. This is where we need some help. Covid has made finding relevant placements difficult, and we are looking for local businesses to support these local young people to give them the chance to learn new things, hopefully earn a great reference, and give them something useful to add to their CV to help them find work when the course finishes.
We need employers from all sectors who are willing to offer a placement from 24 May 2021 to contact us to discuss how we may be able to work together. All young people undergo lengthy pre-work teaching sessions. These prepare them for a placement and to learn what is expected of them during that time. Our staff visit them during their placement to see how they are doing and to offer support.
Life Skills
After the placement, we will support the team to update their CVs. We will also arrange employer support to help improve interview skills and work on the correct way to approach job searching, applications, and looking at next steps. That could be work or returning to education to gain the qualifications they need to get the job they want in the future.
To support them once in work, we will also have a really important money management session delivered by the staff of HSBC. This will look at essential and non-essential spending, saving, tax, and understanding your payslip, which is something young people seem to not know much about.
We have had some great success stories from previous Teams and are looking for the same from Team 50.
Team Peterborough is delivered in conjunction with Peterborough City Council and Peterborough Regional college
