27 Oct 2015 | Cricket
The Prince's Trust Cymru held a special awards ceremony at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff to celebrate the end of the three-year Truth about Youth initiative and Glamorgan CCC were presented with an award for their support of the project.
Since the initiative began in December 2012, The Prince's Trust Cymru has run 24 employability programmes in partnership with 17 partner organisations in the Swansea, Cardiff and Wrexham areas.
Truth About Youth was designed to help unemployed young people access skills training and prepare them for the world of work. Over three years, young people gained experience and job opportunities in a range of sectors including construction, care, retail, sports and hospitality.
The programme also challenged negative perceptions of young people by offering them the chance to run a variety of projects that involved members of the public and had a positive impact on their communities. These projects enabled the young people to engage with over 3,500 people across Wales.
Earlier this year, 15 young people from varied backgrounds and with little work experience were trained in hospitality skills at The SSE SWALEC. These individuals had struggled to get jobs but were given opportunities to learn about catering, cooking and serving customers by the Glamorgan C&E team. A number went on to help set up the catering operations ahead of the Ashes Test and the visit to The SSE SWALEC by Prince Charles.
After learning about all aspects of the club, their training culminated first in a community day as Glamorgan hosted Leicestershire in the LV= County Championship with the Prince's Trust youngsters were paired to meet with Glamorgan players and members and provide them with lunch.
The youngsters were very polite and courteous, commented Glamorgan member Ann Read, who attended the awards as a guest of Glamorgan.
They were impressed with our knowledge of cricket and they liked the idea of following the game online and seeing the media centre and the coverage.
The boys really mucked in and its a positive thing for the club to be involved in.
The red-carpet event was attended by over 100 people and amongst the award winners were Willowbrook House (Cardiff), Pendine Park (Wrexham), Glamorgan County Cricket Club (Cardiff), The Co-operative Group (Cardiff), The LC Swansea, Cardiff City FC Foundation, Swansea Community Farm, Swansea Council Flexible Support Service and Radisson Blu (Cardiff).
Six of the Truth About Youth youngsters were employed by Glamorgan during the Ashes in various roles and others are also now working in the hospitality industry across south Wales.
Ex-Truth about Youth participant Andrew Lawson, who gained employment in the hospitality sector after taking part in a Prince's Trust course, delivered a speech about stereotypes.
He said: After I finished the hospitality course with Glamorgan Cricket Club, I got a job a week later with my new qualifications. The entire group on the course proved we have a lot to offer. Young people can be kind, intelligent and articulate. We do want to give something back to the community. We do want a better life for ourselves and those around us. This is the real truth about youth.
Ian Thomas, Programme Manager for The Prince's Trust Cymru and host for the evening said: The Truth about Youth initiative gave young people the chance to prove that they have a huge amount to offer employers as well as their local community. Young people are often portrayed in a negative manner but this fantastic initiative gave them the opportunity to show what they could achieve when given the chance.
Alex Dobbs, Manager and Award Winner at Willowbrook House, St. Mellons said: It has been a pleasure and a privilege to have had the opportunity to work in partnership with The Princes Trust and The Co-operative Foundation, providing training and employment to such wonderful young people.
Youth charity The Prince's Trust supports 3,500 young people in Wales each year through its programmes. Three in four young people supported by The Trust move into work, education or training.
With one award added to the trophy cabinet, Glamorgan will be meeting with Prince's Trust in the coming weeks to talk about future collaboration with the charity.