Prince's Trust programme generates £3 for every £1 spent

A study carried out by NEF Consulting into the Team project run by The Prince's Trust found the scheme created £90m of social worth across the UK in just one year.

According to the research, for every £1 invested into the scheme, a total of £2.99 in social value was created, with each community project undertaken by young people on the programme generating the equivalent of £3,600 total gross investment in their community.

This included an average £300 of fundraising and about 500 hours of work valued at minimum wage.

Social return was also calculated based on the value of helping young people into work or education, with fewer people being on benefits or in trouble with the law as a result of participating in the programme.  

The Team programme was set up to give unemployed young people aged between 16 and 25 the chance to gain qualifications, receive on-the-job training, and get involved in community projects and a residential week away.

The research into the social return-on-investment analysis was based on data gathered from 9,157 young people who completed the scheme between January and December last year.

About 75 per cent of them moved into education, training or employment within three months of completing the programme.

Michelle Wheeler, national programme manager for Team, said: “This research proves that in just one year, our Team programme has helped thousands of young people to take control of their lives and has ultimately boosted the local economy.

“We want to help more unemployed young people.”

The calculated savings follow separate social benefit research earlier in the year into the work of youth charity OnSide and sports charity StreetGames.

The full Team programme report will be released later this year.