Business skills course for young jobless

Young people can sign up to the Prince’s Trust Enterprise programme, which is designed to give them the skills and confidence to become their own boss or find jobs.

David Ralph, Chief Executive of D2N2, the Local Enterprise Partnership for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, said: “Helping our young people develop the skills and confidence to be all they can be, whether that be to help them start in business or begin a rewarding career, is crucial to our long term economic success.

“By offering them step-by-step support to find out if self-employment is right for them, The Prince’s Trust Enterprise programme can help our young people get on the ladder to economic success.”

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), funded initiative runs until June 2015, and last year supported 190 young people in Mansfield and Ashfield.

The initiative is aimed at to unemployed 18 to 30-year-olds to help them work out if their business ideas are viable and decide whether self-employment is right for them. The programme offers business mentoring and an opportunity to apply for financial loans or grant. One in five 16 to 24-year-olds are facing unemployment in the East Midlands with a 221 per cent increase in long-term youth unemployment since the beginning of the recession. For more information, visit www.princes-trust.org.uk or call 0800 842842.