THE Prince's Trust Volunteers is one of a clutch of organisations set up under the guidance of Prince Charles with a broad aim of helping Britain's young people achieve their full potential. PERRY GOURLEY looks at how the scheme operates in East Lancashire and the practical benefits gained by those who have taken part.

A YEAR ago the nearest Chris Wilson would have got to meeting royalty was the picture of the Queen on the tenners that made up his dole money.

Leaving school with no qualifications and a succession of menial jobs had left him disillusioned and dissatisfied.

It was a situation hundreds of young people in East Lancashire find themselves in and a situation which a scheme run by the Prince's Trust Volunteers aims to change.

Through personal development courses it aims to bring out the best in young people - basically to help them succeed in life. It is best known for its work for the unemployed but increasingly employers are finding the benefits of sending their younger staff on teambuilding PTV courses.

The PTV runs personal development programmes specifically aimed at 16 to 26 year-olds to develop their confidence, motivation and skills through teamwork. In particular, it aims to develop areas such as communication, problem solving and taking responsibility. Everyone who takes part joins a team of about 15 people led by a trained team leader in what is pitched at being a challenging course which includes an outdoor residential course away from home.

For the young unemployed people who take part the main benefits are improved prospects for the future. Most go on to jobs or full-time training or education after taking part in the programme.

Employers who send their new staff on to PTV programmes report tangible improvements in the skills and attitudes of their employees.

Since it was launched in East Lancashire the programme has helped hundreds of young people. From Blackburn, the scheme is administered throughout Lancashire and a new satellite office has recently been opened in Colne to cover Burnley and Pendle.

The scheme can boast a host of success stories like that of Chris.

In less than a year since joining the scheme he reckons he has achieved more than in most of the 23 that had gone before it put together. He is now regarded as a shining example of how the scheme can change lives - so much so that he was invited to Buckingham Palace to meet its mentor Prince Charles.

Chris, of Duke Bar, Burnley, believes it is no overstatement to say his experience with the Volunteers has sparked a revolution in his life.

"Everyone who knew me before I took part in says how much I've changed. I used to keep myself very much to myself. If I was put in a room with two strangers I would have found it very difficult to speak to them. Now I can give presentations to packed rooms. "I feel far more alive now and happier in myself."

Up until last year Chris admits his life story had been one of underachievement.

He left what was Shadsworth High School at 15 without any qualifications and took a packing job. For the next six years he took a succession of low-paid job jobs before finding himself unemployed and searching for a change in life.

He heard about the Blackburn-based Prince's Trust Volunteers through the Information Shop for Young People in Blackburn.

"I thought there was nothing to lose. I could still look for work during the course so I thought I'd give it a go."

The 12-week course saw him taking part in an outdoor activity event at Windermere which included spending a night in a cave. He also spent three weeks with the park rangers and helped create a play area at a Blackburn school.

Chris's progress during the course led his bosses to offer him a job through the New Deal scheme as an assistant team leader, helping run the same course he took part in.

Now he is set to take up a job in Leyland as a team leader for the scheme.

"I can't wait. It is a lot of responsibility but I am really looking forward to it."

The meeting with Prince Charles came after a national PTV organiser spotted Chris in action giving a presentation on the scheme at a national conference for firemen in Glasgow and got him an invitation to a reception at Buckingham Palace.

For Chris and others who take part in the programme, it has opened up horizons that would simply not have been possible.

Pam Smith, for example, has left for an adventure of a lifetime in Thailand this week just nine months after joining the course. After spending two years on a beauty course at Blackburn College she had ended up unemployed and looking for some direction in her life.

The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle has now been chosen to take part in an international exchange scheme the PTV is involved in.

She will head for a rural village in Thailand for a three-month stint that will see her experiencing one of the world's most basic lifestyles.

When she returns she will spend three months helping the needy back in Britain on various projects involving the elderly and disabled before training for a hoped-for new role as a team leader.

It has been a dramatic turnaround in less than a year and one that the Prince's Trust Volunteers has been pivotal to.

"I could never of dreamed of something like this before," she said. "It has shown me a bigger picture in life."

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