News
The Prince’s Trust highlights impact of COVID-19 on the ambitions of the next generation
29 Sep 2020
New research from The Prince’s Trust has revealed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the aspirations of young people across the UK, as the charity reaches an important milestone of supporting its one millionth young person.
The Prince’s Trust worked with Censuswide to conduct new research of 2,000 16 to 25-year-olds which reveals an ‘aspiration gap’.
• 44% of young people say their aspirations for the future are now lower as a result of the pandemic
• 39% of young people claim to have abandoned their aspirations for the year ahead
• 38% of young people feel they will “never succeed in life” – increasing to 48% when surveying those from poorer homes.
• 55% of young people say the crisis has made them fearful for the future
The Prince’s Trust has enlisted the support of its Celebrity Ambassadors including Idris Elba, David Oyelowo, Guy Garvey and rock band Stereophonics to launch a new fundraising campaign to help. You can hear read more about the campaign here.
LDC partnered with The Prince’s Trust in 2019 to help more than 1,200 young people to launch their own businesses as part of a three-year partnership called Backing Youth Ambition. In its first year, the partnership contributed £431,000 to support more than 650 young entrepreneurs, through donations, volunteering, event attendance and mentoring across the country.
Martin McKay, CEO of LDC portfolio company Texthelp, understands first-hand the impact The Prince’s Trust can have on the entrepreneurial ambitions of young people. He founded his education technology business when he was in his twenties, with support from The Prince’s Trust.
“To start a computer business, you really need a computer. I used a grant from The Prince’s Trust to buy a computer and some software; I don’t know what path I would have taken without their support.”
LDC invested in the business, backing Martin and his team, in 2019. And today Texthelp employs 180 staff across its offices in Belfast, America and Australia, and has more than 30 million users worldwide.
I’ve no idea where I would be now without The Prince’s Trust, it really did get me started. Just knowing someone was willing to take a risk and support me boosted my confidence.”
One thing is clear – it’s all our responsibility to ensure young people can access support to upskill, retrain and start businesses. Supporting one million young people is just the start.
LDC is committed to helping The Prince’s Trust to support more young people by providing grant funding, volunteering and fundraising. If you’d like to get involved, get in touch.