Focus
Prince William and Skill Force
22nd June 2009
Skill Force is a national charity working across England, Scotland and Wales to help young people begin to unlock their potential before they leave school.
The organisation uses the talents of former Service Personnel and others, to deliver inspirational and motivational activities, known as “preventative intervention programmes” to about 9,500 young people each year.
Prince William became Patron of Skill Force in February 2009 this year and said he was "delighted" to get involved.
He said: “Skill Force combines the skills and experience of former members of the Armed Forces and other uniformed services with an innovative and successful approach to unlocking the potential of some of the Country’s most disadvantaged young people.”
Skill Force has a vision of “a future when no young person is needlessly left behind in education and where every young learner has an equal chance to succeed in life, whatever their background or ability."
Operating through a network of teams, consisting of between two to six pairs of instructors, its core activities are targeted mainly at 14 to 16-year-olds who respond more positively to alternative learning programmes, although transition, primary and special projects are also delivered.
The aim is to provide a way forward for participants and ultimately routes to employment for sometimes more difficult to reach young people, therefore preparing them for life after they leave school.
The “Core Programme” is 70 per cent classroom based and 30 per cent outside, and revolves around activity-based learning and skills development.
The aim is to build self-esteem through skill-based activities that can lead to work such as The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, Sport, First Aid qualifications and wider skills such as working with others; problem solving and improving learning and performance.
Skill Force’s approach has produced dramatic improvements in personal development and confidence, and significant reductions in truancy, exclusions, and petty misdemeanours in the community, with those completing the programme entering further education and finding work.
Skill Force has been involved with over 260 schools since 2000 in England alone, and worked with over 35,000 young people to date.
The impact of Skill Force is significant. Many young people say that the organisation has made a real difference or has even saved their lives.
Working with predominantly more “difficult to reach” students is often challenging, but the instructors remain focused on creating the conditions for their students to become successful, changing attitudes and inspiring achievement on the way.
The following indicates the success of the programme:
• Last year, 84 per cent of Skill Force’s student population on long courses (over 4500 students) went onto Further Education, training or employment on leaving school.
• Whilst as many as 25 per cent may be predicted to become NEET, which stands for Not in Education, Employment or Training, Skill Force gets this down to between three to seven per cent annually against a national average of 10 to 11 per cent.
• Whilst as many as 30 per cent may be predicted to be excluded from school, Skill Force gets this down to around six per cent, which means they stay in their school and avoid having to go into Pupil Referral Units, where the road back to mainstream education can sometimes be more difficult.
• Over 90 per cent of students helped by Skill Force leave school with at least one qualification. Last year 35,000 young people in mainstream education left with nothing.
View a video about the work of Skill Force below:
Click here to read Prince William’s article for the Sunday Telegraph (21st June 2009).
Visit the website at www.skillforce.org.