Summary:

Company: The Prince’s Trust

Location: Cold Store, Digbeth

Project: Creation of a Young People’s Skills and Enterprise Hub

Value of GBSLEP contribution through the Local Growth Fund: £627,000

Value of Project: £2.455 million

The creation of a new skills hub, designed to nurture and develop the entrepreneurial spirit of Greater Birmingham’s young people, has been made possible thanks to funding from the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP (GBSLEP).

Located in the Cold Store at Digbeth, Birmingham, the new centre offers an inclusive, innovative, agile learning space for young people to build their skills and self-confidence – helping them to realise their ambitions and support business growth in the region.

The new facility is run by youth charity The Prince’s Trust, which helps to improve access to jobs, education and training for young people aged 11 to 30 across the UK. The centre is designed to help The Trust realise its commitment to supporting a further one million young people during the next decade.

Chair of GBSLEP, Tim Pile, said:

Supporting the ambitions of our young people, and skills development with local companies, will really help to build Greater Birmingham’s local economy. This region is already well known as a vibrant hub for enterprise, with a diverse business community. The new Prince’s Trust centre will provide a further boost for Greater Birmingham and its young people.”

Michele Farmer, Director of Central England at The Prince’s Trust, commented:

We are grateful to GBSLEP for its ongoing support of our new centre, and its dedication to helping us build a flexible, creative space where we can deliver programmes for local young people. We want to encourage people to drop by and find out about the wide range of programmes we have on offer.”

The Opportunity

As one of the youngest cities in Europe, The Prince’s Trust Youth Skills and Enterprise Hub will play a key role in supporting young talent in Birmingham and its surrounding areas. The new state-of-the-art facility, which has transformed the Cold Store building, aims to upskill and support unemployed young people into jobs directly or through start-up businesses.

Sophie Drake, Non-Executive Director for Young People, GBSLEP, added:

This new facility is going to be a vibrant and inspiring place for Greater Birmingham’s young people, and The Prince’s Trust’s investment into delivering it really is a show of intent and belief in our city. The scale and versatility of the site will ensure that the Trust does not only support more individuals, but also caters for a broader range of needs.”

Delivery

Plans for the creation of the new skills hub were announced as part of the third round of Growth Deals in the Midlands in 2017, with work on the refurbishment of the Cold Store completing in spring 2018.

Why does this matter?

• The new centre aims to reduce regional youth unemployment by offering mentoring, training and advice to those looking to start their own business or take charge of their professional development.
• It will build on the success of thriving sectors in Greater Birmingham – from life sciences to financial services and advanced manufacturing – and tap into the opportunities open to young people in Digbeth’s Learning Quarter, providing a safe space to learn, collaborate and innovate.
• The centre will draw on the strength of public, third, and private sector bodies in order to: maximise the benefits to young people; address the skills gap; and support local residents to take advantage of all the opportunities the city has to offer.
• The Prince’s Trust has a long-established reputation of supporting young people struggling to access education and work, helping them to build self-confidence and skills that will help them to live, learn and earn. Its new home at the Cold Store will allow the charity to continue its vital work with the region’s young people.