THE PRINCE'S TRUST TEAM PROGRAMME

From Rhys Cummins, The Prince's Trust, Team Leader

I set out below information about a brilliant, free programme available to young people in your area: The Prince's Trust Team Programme.

• Team is a free 12 week programme available to any 16-25 year old who is not in employment, education or training.

• The aim of the course is to give the young people the employability skills, experience for their CV and self-confidence for them to go on to their next steps, whatever that be.

• Many young people also come on the course to build their social confidence and work on their anxiety

• There are usually between 10 - 15 young people on the course at a time, with a complete range of educational and life experiences e.g. from people that have no qualifications to university graduates.

• It is a full time course, with the young people being with us from 9:30 - 4:30, Monday - Friday, including half terms / any overlapping holidays

The programme is split into 7 sections

1. An introductory team building & goal setting week
2. A 3 night residential trip to an activity centre
3. A 4 week community project, in which the Team are given a budget of £0 to make improvements to a community organisation. They have 2 weeks to plan and fundraise for the project, a week to complete the project and then a week to review and get ready for the next stage of the course
4. A 2 week individual work placement. We work with the young person from the first day of the course to organise a work placement that is suited to their plans
5. A 2 week section of 'supporting others in the community', in which the group support 2 or 3 community groups by running sessions for them
6. A final presentation in which the Team sum up their achievements over the programme and explain what they are looking to do after the course
7. Career planning is heavily integrated into the last 4 weeks of the programme. The Team members are taught how to effectively research potential careers, discuss where they can get careers advice, build a high quality CV, fill in draft application forms and receive feedback and complete a mock interview. The career planning section is taught by a mixture of the Team Leaders and guest speakers/sessions

We have found that people often use the residential trip as a selling point to young people; despite it often being a highlight of the programme, this trip is often off putting at first as it raises anxiety. Quotes from ex team members (below), the career planning and the work placement are usually better selling points

Quotes:

• "I came on Team to build my confidence through new experiences and open up my career options. I found community project particularly beneficial because it felt good to do something worthwhile for others. Since leaving team, I have been exploring my career options by working in a range of different environments".
• "I came on Team after dropping my A levels because I wasn't enjoying them. I just wanted something to occupy my time and for some help finding the right path for me. I have made some really good friends whilst on team. I have found the course really helpful in terms of figuring out what I want to do next in life".
• "I came on Team to have something to do with my time and for help finding employment. I most enjoyed residential as I got to try new things. The thing that benefitted me the most was the career planning week as I now have a very professional CV. I hope to progress onto a traineeship or apprenticeship next".



If people are interested in the programme, then they can contact the Lewes centre on 07584684367 or the Eastbourne centre on 07342065442. We can be reached by call, text or Whats App.