The Nokia Urban Music Festival with The Prince's TrustJohn, 26, left school in 1995 with 3 GCSEs and went on to college. However he found college a difficult time and felt he lacked direction in this life. Although he was a talented musician and was keen to pursue a career in the industry, its competitive nature meant he soon found himself unemployed.
John was unemployed for nearly three years before he approached The Trust. In 2004 The Prince’s Trust awarded John £3,500 to start-up his business. He has been a self-employed musician for nearly a year and his group has an increasing number of gigs. The group has their own small record label, Estate Recordings and hope to expand the business in order to manage and produce their own music themselves.
Aside from performing John takes time to give inspiration to young people running DJ workshops in Manchester and has just recently given a talk to other Prince’s Trust young people about how to get into the music industry.
John said: “I knew it was make or break when I came to The Trust. I didn’t even know The Prince’s Trust existed and now I’m not sure where I would be or what I would be doing if I hadn’t gone to them. You don’t realise when you’re young that not having qualifications will have so much of an effect on your life, for me it meant I couldn’t find a job for nearly three years. The Trust however has opened so many doors for me with my music. I have learned many skills from writing a business plan to book keeping. If you had said I would be able to those things a couple of years ago I would have probably laughed. The Prince’s Trust has given me the opportunity I had been waiting for to show off my talents. I am following my dream and doing a job that I am passionate about everyday, that can’t be bad, can it?”
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Tackling the Poverty of Opportunity identifies Britain's most deprived areas and explores the impact of spatial disadvantage on educational outcomes for young people over time. It reveals that half of the bottom 10 most deprived districts in England have a below median improvement in GCSE performance, taking account of their previous level of performance in 1999. Twenty-nine of the top 35 most deprived areas in England in 2004 were also in the top 35 most deprived in 2000. The London School of Economics report was commissioned by The Prince's Trust as part of a five-year partnership with The Royal Bank of Scotland Group to develop new ways of using enterprise in the UK's most deprived areas to help 16-18 year olds who leave school with no qualifications.
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Only 18 months ago Kenny found himself without any qualifications, unemployed, and involved in alcohol and drugs. Now 26, Kenny is an Assistant Team Leader with The Prince's Trust delivery partner in Hull, Instant Muscle. He devotes his time to helping young people overcome personal difficulties, unemployment, and social exclusion and supports them as they get their lives working again. Kenny from Hull, was the winner of the 2005 Prince’s Trust & RBS Special Achievement Award.
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