Prince’s Trust develops new skills hub in Birmingham.
Leaders from business and local government met at the new Prince’s Trust centre in Digbeth earlier this week to build on their commitment to supporting Birmingham’s young people and providing increased access to jobs and skills.
Brendan Cook, Head of Transformation at HSBC UK, and West Midlands Mayor Andy Street spoke at the event, which was hosted at the new Prince’s Trust centre by Nick Stace the UK Chief Executive of youth charity The Prince’s Trust and Michele Farmer Director of Central England at The Prince’s Trust.
With exciting events on the horizon for Birmingham and with more businesses, like HSBC UK, moving their head offices to the city, the commitment behind the Midlands Engine is growing. Those in attendance highlighted their dedication to working together to ensure that Birmingham’s growth leads to increased opportunities for the city’s young people.
The event also marked the renewal of the partnership between HSBC UK and The Prince’s Trust who have worked together since 2012. The charity will now be able to dedicate further resources to supporting young people across the UK to develop their employability skills. This funding will also support The Trust to innovate and trial new ways of helping young people.
Andy Street said: “Addressing the skills challenge in the region is one of my top priorities and I am delighted that The Prince’s Trust has chosen to develop their new skills hub in Birmingham. There is much to celebrate in the region, but we still have a great deal of work to do to ensure that everyone is sharing in this success. I am pleased to work in partnership with HSBC UK and The Prince’s Trust to give all of our young people an opportunity to succeed.”
Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC UK, added: “We are delighted to be renewing our partnership with The Prince’s Trust. The Trust’s programmes across the UK have enabled thousands of young people to re-engage with education, training or employment. We know the benefits that the skills developed through these programmes can have in the workplace later on, both for employees and employers, and are committed to investing in programmes that help young people reach their potential.”
Michele Farmer commented: “Having recently moved into our new centre, we are passionate about it being a place where young people feel welcome and can come in to speak to our staff and learn about our programmes. Housed in the former cold store, a short walk from the Bullring Market, we hope that our space in the heart of Birmingham means that local businesses, charities and those who work with young people can visit us and become involved in our work.”
The Prince’s Trust moved to its new premises in March 2018. The centre aims to provide a safe environment in which The Trust can realise its commitment to supporting a further one million young people to realise their true potential over the next decade.
The charity runs a range of employability and enterprise programmes designed to help boost young people’s confidence and skills at venues across the UK, and also delivers a growing number of services remotely through Prince’s Trust Online. This year, The Prince’s Trust will support around 60,000 young people to develop the confidence and skills they need to succeed in life.
