Barclaycard help The Prince’s Trust make history
There are many different ways to help young people turn their lives around and The Prince’s Trust has been doing it for more than forty years. Whether it’s gaining new skills, building confidence, or simply meeting new people, every young person who gets involved is given the opportunity to learn how to take that next positive step.
Barclaycard has been supporting The Prince’s Trust for more than five years and in 2017 more than 700 colleagues delivered workshops to over 440 young people. Click here to see the positive impact this had on those who took part.
In 2018, we wanted to go one step further and at Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park, we ran the biggest one-day mentoring event in the history of The Prince’s Trust.
Biggest one-day mentoring event
Forty colleagues came together with ninety young people for a day of mentoring workshops looking at personal brand. The event was about teaching participants what a brand is and why it matters, deciding what their own personal brand is and how to sell that to others; understanding their own strengths and passions and learning the best way to communicate that.
Barry Rodrigues, CEO, Cards and Payments at Barclays, attended the workshop. He said: ‘Our Partnership with The Prince’s Trust is crucial for us as we serve our communities and enable greater prosperity. Our colleagues get a huge amount out of engaging with young people and we hope that two-way relationship will help future generations take positive steps in their lives.’
Paul Brown, Chief Marketing Officer (UK & Group) for The Prince’s Trust explains why the knowledge gained is so important: ‘Personal brand is really important, because whether you like it or not, it’s going affect every aspect of your life, from your relationship with friends and family to your future employment prospects. This stuff really matters.’
The mentoring day formed part of a number of programmes run by The Prince’s Trust. Ranging from the one-day Get Hired programme, to the Team programme lasting twelve weeks; they give participants insights into working life and help them start to develop the skills they need for success.
Many of the participants at the mentoring workshop were part of the Team programme which Barclaycard supports throughout the year. The twelve-week course starts with a seven-day residential trip. Then participants gain work experience, and attend CV, interview and presentation skills workshops. It’s all about gaining confidence, increasing their skill sets and getting them ready for the world work.
Ali Law, Senior Citizenship Manager said: ‘I’ve seen first-hand the positive impact we can make by working together. I’ve seen students from week one who find it so hard to even say their names in front of a group, to week twelve when they give a presentation in front of family, friends and external stakeholders. It’s truly inspirational to see how empowered people become.’
Giving something back
The mentoring day had an extra special twist because two of those helping run the event have been supported by The Prince’s Trust in the past and have just completed a three-week work experience programme with Barclaycard.
Matilda and Lucine both have a passion for music and events and have spent time at our offices in Canary Wharf and on-site at Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park. The mentoring day was a way for them to gain some more experience as they start their own careers and give something back to an organisation that helped them.
Lucine was studying in Europe, but had to cut short her studies to come home and deal with a traumatic family matter. That left her with some decisions to make about her career.
She’s a songwriter and initially joined the two-week Get Started with Music course with The Prince’s Trust. Lucine explains: ‘I was lost and not sure what to do next, but the course surpassed my expectations. I met some amazing people and now I’m working with a producer to write and record songs.
‘It gave me a new lease of confidence I’d never had before. From the get-go, they had a faith in me that I didn’t have in myself. They recognised my drive and ambition and that gave me a lot of confidence. It’s done so much for me, I’ve grown, but I know how to keep my feet on the ground.’
Lucine’s involvement with The Prince’s Trust didn’t end there though:
‘I heard of this opportunity for work experience with Barclaycard at one of The Trust’s Get Hired days and after doing well at the interview I got an exciting phone call...
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‘Being here has really opened my eyes to the career options open to me. We’ve been able to learn so many different things. At Barclaycard presents BST Hyde Park, we’ve dipped our feet and toes into things we’d never have gotten the chance to. We’ve learned about staging large-scale events, video production, social media, and everything else in between.’
Matilda also says that working with The Prince’s Trust and then latterly with Barclaycard has helped her. She explains: ‘I had a friend on The Prince’s Trust Enterprise course and found the Get Into Admin course on their website. I’d worked in retail, but needed admin experience. It was a real confidence boost and helped me realise I was moving in the right direction.
‘I’ve loved the work experience with Barclaycard. I’ve always wanted to work in events. We’ve been able to do everything, meeting everyone working on-site, getting careers advice, we’ve realised how many parts there are in the machine, how many people pull this together. They’ve been like a family and it’s been so much more than work experience’.
‘Helping at the mentoring event has also been a pretty cool experience. It’s exciting to be able to show people how helpful The Prince’s Trust are. For me, even though I’ve finished my course I’m still getting job opportunities via email. Working and supporting these young people today is a reminder of how much help is out there and how many opportunities lie ahead for people.’