Prince’s Trust Team

Meet Jerome Johnson

Jerome Johnson was a star student who attended every session on time, with a ‘can-do’ attitude that motivated his peers and provided positive engagement. During team building, his supportive nature to others shone through and he showed exemplary leadership skills.

Whilst completing the one day project in conjunction with Middleport Matters, Jerome went above and beyond to demonstrate gardening skills and tips to the rest of the cohort.

Jerome has since gone on to secure a job at the local firm Steelite!

Jerome said, “I loved every minute of my Prince’s Trust journey. It’s really helped improve my confidence, motivation and self-esteem.”

Meet Edward Buxton

Edward Buxton has been an exemplary learner during his time on the Prince’s Trust Team Programme, going on to achieve success in all key areas that the course is designed for; personal, social and professional development.

Edward was referred to us by Entrust with not a great deal known about his history. However, upon meeting Edward, it quickly became apparent through discussion and visual observation, that he had experienced a difficult time in mainstream education as he came to terms with his own identity.

Upon beginning the programme Ed displayed lots of ability in academic terms, flourishing in both written and verbal tasks. He expressed himself elegantly, which made others sit up and listen. His impact on the other Team members was profound, making others gravitate towards him.

Despite being cautious of others and naturally introverted, Ed became the centre point during day 5 of week 1 when he delivered his first presentation. It was an incredibly open and honest presentation, in which he explained about other areas of his life that the other team members still didn’t know about.

Moving on through the programme Ed maintained his high standard of work and contributions to the learning environment. No task was too big and everyone wanted to work with him during group activities. He formed close friendships with everyone, elevating him in status, which I’m sure would have made him feel incredibly proud considering his previous traumas and mental health barriers.

Ed completed his work experience placement at Cancer Research UK and received incredibly positive feedback. So much so that it inspired Ed to consider looking for and applying for work. Such was his motivation, we found him an apprenticeship vacancy to apply for, which he did instantly and was offered in an interview. This came at the perfect moment during the programme as we were completing CV workshops and mock interviews.

We prepped Ed for his interview and gave him a copy of his work placement reference to take along with him. He went to the interview and in his own words, “aced it!”. No sooner had Ed returned to the Team Room that his phone was ringing with the good news. The Cheese Station offered him the apprenticeship!

4 days a week at work, 1 day a week at College to do level 2 in Customer Service and Level 1 in Cheese Mongering. Ed was absolutely over the moon, which rubbed off on everyone else. Sometimes it’s difficult to turn workshops into reality, but Ed was the perfect example of how you can achieve success and now the others are motivated to achieve the same.

Ed spent 12 weeks on the Prince’s Trust Team Programme, achieving three qualifications at Level 1 and attaining 100% attendance, which is even more impressive when you consider Ed is rather rurally isolated. He lives in Rocester and took public transport to come to the Team Room each and every day. A journey of 1 hour 30 minutes each way! A tremendous effort from a tremendous learner!