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Charles trust tells City: Give us £1m a week to keep teens from crime
Amar Singh, Evening Standard19.08.08
Prince Charles's charity is calling on major London businesses to donate £1million a week to a campaign to improve the image of the capital's teenagers.
The Prince's Trust wants sponsorship from City firms and entrepreneurs for the project, which starts in autumn.
The first initiative will be a "youth week" in November aimed at transforming the way teenagers are portrayed, amid fears that negative publicity is fuelling crime.
YouTube will host a site promoting the positive side of youth. Famous names including Rio Ferdinand, Estelle and Annie Lennox will feature in the campaign, talking about their own teenage years.
Prince's Trust spokesman Paul Brown said: "If we keep telling young people that they are layabouts, losers and junkies, there is a real danger that they will believe they can't do anything different.
"Our new campaign highlights the positive contribution young people make to their communities, changing the public's negative perceptions of all young people." He said £1 million a week was needed to fund the trust so it can help young people develop workplace skills.
The money will be ploughed into community projects such as basketball coaching for boys in danger of drifting into gangs. Mr Brown said: "We offer positive activities for young people as an alternative to gangs and crime. The Prince's Trust is part of the solution and always has been.
"Organisations like ours are needed now more than ever following the tragic deaths of 23 teenagers in London."
One of the stars involved in the youth week is England and Chelsea footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips. He said: "I set up my own football academy in London because I strongly believe in giving young people opportunities that are not usually available to them."
Reader views (4)
I do wish Charles would shut up or put up how about him taking his hand out of his pocket with some cash, he has lots of It:
- Richard Edmunds, Southend On Sea Essex
Agree with you on this Peter. Hard labour and respect in prison - not a holiday camp.
- Charlie, London
Too late, what's needed is school disciplne, zero crime tolerance, high vis policing on the sink estates, hard time on jail for drug pushers - yep, breaking rocks on Dartmoor or somewhere. Proper social responsibility
- Peter Bench, London
Why couldn't the government have thought of this?
- Dawn Parsons, London, England
