With an additional £200,000 from Accenture, The Prince's Trust will provide skills training to 7,000 young people in the United Kingdom this year, with the goal of helping 3,500 secure jobs. Those who don't get a job immediately will still be supported over the next 12 months, with many going on to further training.
Accenture's total contribution of £1.2 million since 2012 is enabling The Prince's Trust to expand its flagship employability program – Get into – to deliver professional and industry-specific job skills training to young people between the ages of 16 to 25.
The grant, which includes a mix of funding and the time and skills of Accenture employees, is part of Accenture's corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which is equipping more than 700,000 people around the world with the skills to get a job or build a business.
“Through Skills to Succeed, Accenture's partnership with The Prince's Trust has helped more than 15,000 young people get the skills they need to find and keep a job,” said Olly Benzecry, Accenture's country managing director in the UK and Ireland. “This latest grant will enable The Prince's Trust to continue its fantastic work and give another 7,000 young people the same opportunity.”
Additionally, Accenture will help The Prince's Trust develop its new mentoring program. Mentors will provide personalized, one-to-one support, guidance and encouragement to young people, helping them search for jobs, practice interview techniques, set goals and improve their confidence.
“The Get into program is at the heart of what we do at The Prince's Trust. Within just a few weeks, young people gain the skills and confidence required to kick-start their way into the working world,” said Tara Leathers, director of fundraising at The Prince's Trust. “The support being offered by Accenture – not only financial but also the expertise of its employees – is invaluable to the disadvantaged young people we support; helping them move from the very back of the job queue, right up to the front and into permanent roles and careers.”
Accenture has partnered with The Prince's Trust to expand the reach of Get into and helped develop its skills training curriculum – the foundation of all programs. The success of Get intohas culminated in the creation of Movement to Work, a voluntary initiative backed by the government, for which Accenture is also a founding company.