Funding support update - The Prince’s Trust

Earlier this year Wildland announced that we had chosen to support the work of nationally-recognised leader in education support for children and young people, The Prince’s Trust. Our goal was to help increase the range of opportunities for young people to build resilience and reach their full potential.

Wildland committed forty thousand pounds to The Trust’s Achieve programme. Achieve provides a vocational curriculum for pupils at risk of disengaging with their education at secondary level.

We also committed thirty thousand pounds in the next generation of entrepreneurs via The Trust’s Enterprise programme. Enterprise works with young aspiring business founders, aged 18-30, providing training, mentorship and access to resources to launch their business.

We are delighted to be able to share the following updates we recently received from The Prince’s Trust:

Dear Anders,

Six months after you made your generous donation to our work in the North East, Highlands and Islands of Scotland, I am pleased to share an interim update on the impact of your gift.

While the past few months have seen a return to a more normal way of life for many, the most disadvantaged in our society are still struggling with the socioeconomic impact of Covid-19. While the young people who you are so kindly supporting have been spared the worst of the health impact, a year of disrupted education and employment prospects has had a significant toll on financial security and emotional wellbeing.

In light of this, your support of our work in schools and with young entrepreneurs is so deeply appreciated. Our Achieve programme, which just this week is beginning to resume in schools across the region, is a vital part of teachers’ toolkits to help young people develop the personal and professional skills that have been put under stress over the last eighteen months. Meanwhile, your support of aspiring entrepreneurs is supporting many to find a sustainable way of earning a living while helping their local community to recover from the economic impact of the crisis.

I hope you will take pride in the progress you have enabled us to make and the stories of the young people you have helped. On behalf of them all, our biggest thanks.

Fraser Davidson | Head of Principal Giving, The Prince’s Trust

An Update on the Enterprise Programme

Since April 2021, our team of youth workers in the North East, Highlands and Islands have supported 58 young people to explore self-employment, bringing us close to our target of supporting 60 aspiring entrepreneurs with your funding this year. 17 have gone on to launch their business since April 2021, or 29.31% of all participants which puts us slightly ahead of our national average of 1 in 5 participants becoming self-employed.

We have provided 23 young people with "Will-it-Work?" grants (micro-funding of up to 500 to test the viability of their business) many of whom are now taking further steps to formally launch. 4 young people who are further along on their business journey have received larger start-up grants of up to 1,000.

We have continued to deliver the Enterprise programme online to support a wide-range of budding entrepreneurs to develop their business plans via the Explore Enterprise Course and online mentoring, wherever they are in Scotland. Naturally, this has brought great benefits to those who live in rural and isolated areas, as well as those who struggle to leave the house for other reasons, such as caring responsibilities, disabilities or health conditions.

An Update on the Achieve Programme

As you will know, students in Scotland recently returned after their summer holidays. After two academic years of disruption, many teachers are gearing up to use The Prince's Trust's Achieve programme as a way of re-engaging their students with school. The programme places an emphasis on practical skills, ambitions for future employment and self-employment and enrichment opportunities outside of the classroom - the latter has been sorely missed by students since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Scotland.

31 schools have already enrolled on the Achieve curriculum for this academic year across the North East, Highlands and Islands, including 11 new schools. Our team in the region are awaiting final confirmation from 13 additional schools about running the programme this academic year. Several schools delayed their final decision at the end of last term as they waited to see whether schools would be placed under any social-distancing restrictions in the new year. With the lifting of restrictions, we are confident that these 13 schools will choose to run the programme.

In the Highland Local Authority, where we know Wildland have a particular affinity, all three schools that we worked with last year will continue to run Achieve this year. We have also enlisted a new partner school just east of Inverness. We work to recruit new partners on a rolling basis, and the Highland area will constitute a priority for the team in the months ahead. Promisingly, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have recently come onboard as a delivery partner for our over-16s provision. They also work with every school in the Highland LA and are keen to help us promote Achieve. We look forward to updating you on how this progresses.

Thank you for also generously funding our Achieve Innovative School Projects, which helps pupils to develop their entrepreneurial skillset by creating their own social enterprise. We are currently taking applications from schools who are interested in taking part and have received eight applications to date. Two of the seven schools that you are funding will be ringfenced for schools in the Highland LA and we want to use this opportunity to incentivize new schools to come onboard with The Trust's education programmes.

Thank You

Thank you so much for your support of our work with young people on the Enterprise and Achieve programmes to date. You've already helped us to create a real impact on the lives of 58 aspiring young entrepreneurs, and as the school-year progresses we look forward to sharing more on the successes and stories of Scotland's pupils taking part in the Achieve programme.

None of this would be possible without the support of friends such as yourselves. As we emerge from the pandemic, we are redoubling our efforts to help young people overcome the socioeconomic impact of the crisis. In the year ahead, our work to help young people develop the skills and confidence they need to become independent member of society will be more important than ever. We can approach this mission with confidence knowing you are behind us.

Greg's Story

Having relocated with his partner and young son to the Isle of Harris, Greg felt the time was right to make a business out of his passion for health and fitness. With the support of The Prince's Trust's Enterprise programme, Greg now has a number of clients on the books and is excited to see where his business goes next.

Greg had a tough time growing up in the Scottish Borders. He really struggled with poor mental health in his teenage years, which came to a head five years ago. It was this experience that led him to fitness: Greg decided that the first step towards having a healthy mind was having a healthy body. Eventually, Greg found work as a personal trainer in a local gym, but when he moved to the Isle of Harris, he decided to explore self-employment.

With no real qualifications to his name, Greg wasn't sure where to start with setting up a business. He also didn't know how he could access the finance to get his company off the ground. However, the internet led him to The Prince's Trust and, earlier this year, he enrolled on The Trust's virtual Enterprise programme to gain the business knowledge he needed to start his business off. After working with a mentor to develop his business plan, Greg was also awarded a microgrant in order to market his business within his community, purchase insurance and cover the cost of training equipment.

In addition to his in-person training, Greg is now expanding his business through online coaching via Zoom, podcasts and short videos. Greg says:

“I am in this for the long run and feel more motivated than ever. I was on the edge just five years ago, but now I've grown in confidence and has a real purpose. The Trust is amazing and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking to become self-employed."

Nikki's Story

Nikki is a young, single mum to her four-year-old daughter and juggling childcare while making a living was taking its toll on her. Nikki had studied for a qualification in hair and beauty at her local college and held down a part time job to ensure that she could provide for her daughter, but she has always had the desire to be financially independent on her own terms.

“I have always had a sweet tooth, but I wanted to take that one step further and open my own confectionary business from home.”

Nikki knew that being self-employed would mean she could still care for her daughter and so she decided to get in touch with The Prince's Trust. When she first started working with us, she was lacking in confidence - even coming off mute to share her ideas with other young people was a challenge. Nikki's Prince's Trust Youth Worker supported her through several one-to-one sessions to build her confidence, and eventually she became an active participant of the online sessions.

“I was pointed in the direction of The Princes Trust as a way of helping me gain some financial help with the business. I didn't know just how much more I would get out of this programme. It really helped me to learn all about the business side of things like tax, HMRC and marketing. It helped me to grow my confidence as well. I didn’t really know anything before I joined, but now I understand so much more and am almost ready to launch my business. I never thought I would get to this step so quickly. I am so glad the programme could help me.”

Nikki worked with her Youth Worker to apply for a micro-grant to purchase stock and the relevant hygiene standards to get her business off the ground. Nikki has big plans for the business and hopes to expand into offering her products at weddings and other events. Nikki said:

“My experience with The Prince's Trust has been great. I learned so much more than I thought I would. I couldn’t have done it without the help of my Youth Worker. We hit it off from the start and she was so easy to speak to and ask for help. She kept me motivated and positive, which makes a huge difference when you have someone believing in you."