SCHOOL-leavers are bearing the brunt of the recession with at least one-in-10 youngsters in London’s deprived East End unable to get a job, the Prince’s Trust warned this week. Many families on the breadline are now turning to the trust for help in the face of the economic downturn

By Mike Brooke

SCHOOL-leavers are bearing the brunt of the recession with at least one-in-10 youngsters in London’s deprived East End unable to get a job, the Prince’s Trust warned this week.

Many families on the breadline are now turning to the trust for help in the face of the economic downturn.

Demand for its services has doubled in the last six months alone, with the 9,000 calls from East London, twice as many as most other parts of the capital.

BREADLINE

The figures were revealed today (Monday) in response to Tower Hamlets Council launching its own three-year Child Poverty strategy last week to help families on the breadline.

“We work with the youngsters the strategy is targeting,” explained the Prince’s Trust London regional director Rosemary Watt-Wyness.

“These include those who have struggled at school, have been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law.

“They have often grown up in households where no-one is working and don’t see a different future for themselves.”

POVERTY

She adds: “This cycle of deprivation must be broken, to lift East End families out of poverty and a life on benefits.”

The Prince’s Trust offers youngsters self-motivation and confidence skills to aim for permanent jobs, or to start their own businesses. It runs 12-week courses to help them see a future in themselves.

The Child Poverty strategy won’t solve the East End’s problems overnight, the trust admits. But it is “a step in the right direction” at a time when teenagers need it most during the recession.