The Prince's Charities Community: Blog

Could you be a business mentor?

PRIME, the charity founded by HRH The Prince of Wales to help people over the age of 50 to get back into work by starting their own businesses, is looking for more volunteers to be mentors.

“If you are willing to share your business experience as a mentor, we are keen to hear from you”, said Harri Harrison, Mentoring Manager. “Older business people have a wealth of knowledge and experience and this is an excellent way to share it.”

The new scheme will operate across the UK. This is possible because PRIME is working with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills on the project and using the specialist online mentoring platform Horsesmouth to provide a safe and secure mentoring venue on the Internet.

“This is not simply about helping to write a business plan”, said Laurie South CEO of PRIME, “It is about helping people who are at the very start of their business journey.”

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer PRIME mentor and would like to find out more, please contact harri.harrison@ace.org.uk or visit www.primebusinessclub.com.

Google supports The British Asian Trust

Google has announced its support to The British Asian Trust with a Google grant and a branded YouTube Channel. The grant gives The British Asian Trust the opportunity through google.co.uk to reach out to new online audiences and build awareness about the Trust’s activities in South Asia.

Cricket has been a huge part of The British Asian Trust success story with matches such as India vs. Pakistan in 2007, the British Asian Challenge at Lord’s in 2009. In July 2010 we will be following this up by bringing the Indian Premier League back to London for The British Asian Challenge at Lord’s. In a build up to July, cricket fans amongst our supporter base can follow their favourite teams in the Indian Premier League Season 3 on YouTube! All 60 matches of the IPL will be streamed live (and free) on youtube.com/ipl.

Acknowledging Google’s support, Chairman Manoj Badale said, "This is a new stage of development for the Trust as it builds its supporter base in the UK and increases awareness about effective philanthropy to high-impact charities in South Asia."

The Prince's Charities in Burnley: Working in Partnership

The Prince of Wales recently visited Burnley in Lancashire to see at first-hand the work of The Prince's Charities in the town.

In this film, Dame Julia Cleverdon, Vice-President of Business in the Community - one of The Prince's Charities - talks about The Prince's interest in the town and his recent visit.

Dame Julia explains how The Prince's Charities are working in partnership with a number of different organisations to make a difference in Burnley.

The Prince of Wales and President Zuma meet with The Prince's Charities

President Jacob Zuma's three-day state visit drew to a close on 5th March 2010 with the Republic of South Africa's leader meeting The Prince of Wales to discuss the work of His Royal Highness’s charitable organisations in his homeland.

The Prince gathered together leading representatives from two of his bodies working in the areas of youth entrepreneurship and sustainable business to discuss their initiatives with the head of state.

The Prince’s Charities – Youth Business International and Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership – have been working in South Africa for a combined period of over 20 years.

The head of The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, which does not have projects in South Africa but is working in deprived areas of Kingston in Jamaica, Freetown in Sierra Leone and other countries, also joined the talks.

Read the full story on The Prince of Wales website.

The British Asian Trust - Three Year Partnership with Developments in Literacy, Pakistan

The British Asian Trust announced its three year partnership with Developments in Literacy (DIL), Pakistan at the DIL Trust UK’s gala held at Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair on 30th January 2010. Speaking at the event, Mr Manoj Badale, Chairman of The British Asian Trust, said “We are proud to be supporting an organisation such as DIL that is high-impact, has a track record of growth and is effectively helping Pakistan meet its future challenges.”

The British Asian Trust’s support to Developments in Literacy will enable the charity to upgrade the quality of education in its schools by improving the standard of training for over 600 rural teachers and capacity building of its programme staff. The Trust support comes at a time when DIL is at a crucial stage of its development and is looking forward to consolidating its activities on the ground.

Acknowledging the support by The British Asian Trust, Ahmereen Reza, Chairperson DIL Trust UK, thanked the Trust for its valuable contribution towards DIL’s effort as well as Mr. Badale for such a unreserved endorsement of DIL’s work and its impact.

The event was the second gala and fundraiser organised by DIL Trust UK since its launch in 2007. The event was attended by prominent British Pakistanis, Pakistani professionals and businessmen residing in the United Kingdom including His Excellency Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Lord Hameed, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, Hassan Askari, Ashraf Ali Hameedi, Dr. Saadia Quraishy, Asif Rangoonwala, Naveed Riaz, Dr. Mian Sharif, Tahir Wahid, Kashif Zafar, DIL Trust’s UK Patron Baroness Sandip Verma and Mrs. Pinky Lillani (pictured), OBE and advisory board member and former Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK, Dr. Maleeha Lodhi. Hitan Mehta and Rabia Nusrat from the Trust also attended the event.

The Prince's Foundation for Children & the Arts - Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon

On Sunday 10th October 2010, The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts is taking part in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon. With our intrepid runners’ help, we plan to raise funds to enable many hundreds of children to enjoy the arts for the first time.

The 13.1 mile route goes through the beautiful Royal Parks – St. James’s Park, Green Park and Kensington Gardens – whilst taking in some of London’s oldest landmarks, including Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament.

Last year’s race was a great success with the Children & the Arts team raising over £7000 of vital funds for the charity. With your help we hope this year’s race will be even better.

For more information and information on registering please visit our half marathon page.

PRIME – The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise - welcomes new Chairman

PRIME, the charity founded by HRH The Prince of Wales to help people over the age of 50 across the UK to get back into work by starting their own businesses, has appointed Richard Martin as Chairman Designate. He will take over from the existing Chair Pauline Norton in the summer.

Pauline says, “I am delighted that Richard will be succeeding me as Chairman and believe he will lead the charity into its next exciting phase of development. Richard brings such a wealth of experience and contacts from the business, consulting and venture-capital worlds.”

Richard Martin started out on the London Stock Exchange before moving into marketing, working for the oil company Castrol and then the brewers Courage. Richard founded, grew and later sold his own consultancy business. He has since been involved with a series of start-ups in a variety of roles – investor, consultant and non-executive director.

Richard said: “With the recession in full swing and the number of older unemployed people rising sharply, there is a greater need than ever for PRIME. My task is to ensure the charity continues to make a real impact on the problem and I look forward to building on the tremendous work carried out by Pauline and the PRIME team. But now we need to raise more money to support a growing number of over 50s move out of worklessness and into enterprise.”

PRIME is one of The Prince's Charities, a group of 20 not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales is President. PRIME offers a practical package of support for people who are over the age of 50 and out of work, including a Business Club and the Zopa-PRIME Olderpreneur Loan scheme.

The over 50s are particularly affected by unemployment and the recession, so setting up their own businesses is a vital way back into the labour market. In the UK as a whole some 3million 50 to 65-year-olds have no paid employment, and the number is rising. The best thing anyone who finds themselves in this position can do is sign up for PRIME's help at: www.primebusinessclub.com.

“Over 50s who are out of paid employment for six months after being made redundant only stand a one-in-ten chance of being an employee again”, says Laurie South, Chief Executive of PRIME. “It’s never been more important to provide opportunities for over 50s who want to work.

“But opportunities are hard to come by at the moment. As a result many people are now seriously considering self-employment. New businesses started by the over 50s will be a big factor in the economic recovery”, says Laurie.

Nitin Ganatra and Laila Rouass sign up as Ambassadors for the British Asian Trust

On 6th February 2010 more than £30,000 was raised at the star studded British Asian Sports awards 2010 at the Grosvenor House hotel in Park Lane in aid of The British Asian Trust.

Hosted by ‘EastEnders’ star Nitin Ganatra and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ star Laila Rouass (pictured right), the awards show recognised the contributions and achievements of the best in British Asian Sporting talent. Both hosts also signed up as Ambassadors of the British Asian Trust.

The charity auction, hosted by Rajan Singh included tickets to the Indian Premier League Finals in Mumbai, Concert tickets to The Black Eyed Peas at the LG Arena, British Grand Prix tickets from Force India courtesy of the UK India Business Council and golf with celebrity cricketer Mark Ramprakash at Wentworth.

British Asian Trust Ambassador Nina Wadia represented the Trust and hosted a number of its Friends and Patrons at the event along with Trustees Chris Mathias and Surinder Arora.

The event will be broadcast globally on Sony Entertainment Television Asia in April 2010.

Read more of this story on the British Asian Trust website.

Start...by insulating your loft

Insulating your loft – it might sound dull, but this simple DIY job could be the best paid day’s work of your life.

How come? If you have yet to insulate your loft, you could be missing out on a saving of around £150 per year on your annual energy bill. And if you don’t move house for the next five years, you could save up to £600* – just for one day’s work.

One budding energy saver enjoyed a bit of extra help last week. Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, and Euan Sutherland, CEO of Kingfisher UK and B&Q, joined forces with Start and put the finishing touches to the lucky Londoner’s insulation.

Sutherland said: “Fitting insulation in your loft is the single most effective thing people can do to green up their homes and save money.”

Commenting on Start, Sir Richard said:

“This is a fantastic initiative. It will help give people practical ideas on how to lead greener and more sustainable lives. Making a difference doesn’t have to be about grand gestures; if people start to do these little things in their everyday lives it will have a big impact. It should save money as well as help preserve our planet.”

If you’d like to find out more about loft insulating, check out Start's essential guide.

* Figures taken from the from Energy Saving Trust. These are estimated figures based on insulating a gas-heated, semi-detached home with three bedrooms.

Your chance to win a 'Stairway to Heaven' film DVD and book set

We're giving members of The Prince's Charities Community the chance to win a DVD of the film 'Stairway to Heaven', along with the beautiful accompanying hard-backed book 'The Minbar of Saladin'.

Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, the film traces the history of the minbar of Saladin, a priceless work of Islamic art created more than 800 years ago.

In 1969, the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was attacked by a fanatic; in the blaze that followed, the minbar, an intricately constructed pulpit made from more than 16,000 hand carved pieces of wood, ivory and ebony, was destroyed.

'Stairway to Heaven' chronicles the journey to recreate the minbar the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, as well as how the consequences of a tragic event have come to symbolise the renaissance of Islamic art around the word.

HRH The Prince of Wales is very interested in Islamic art and saw the minbar during his tour of Jordan in October 2004. The Prince's School for Traditional Arts in London has worked closely with the team responsible for returning the artifact to its former glory.

Watch an excerpt from the film, which was produced by West Park Pictures in association with The Prince's Charities Events Ltd.

To enter our competition to win one of five prizes of the book with film DVD insert, just answer the following question: who narrates the 'Stairway to Heaven' film?

Email us at princes.charities@royal.gsx.gov.uk with your answer and your name, address and telephone number by Monday 15th March 2010 at 9am. (These details will only be used to contact the winning entrant. Entrants must be members of the website. There will be five winners. No alternative prize will be offered. Only the winner will be notified. T&C apply.)