Visit to Resurgo Trust

The Duke visited Resurgo Trust, a group of charities that help catalyse social transformation in local neighbourhoods at the base of Spearhead – their recruitment arm – that works to place disadvantaged young people into work.

The Hammersmith based project works to explore the issue of employability amongst socially disadvantaged young people and the greater role businesses can play in tackling the issue.

The visit began with a roundtable discussion hosted by Chief Executive, Tom Jackson. Participants included Resurgo’s Managing Director Jo Rice, SpearHead Director Emily Perkin and SpearHead partners including Marks & Spencer, Manpower and Westfield. The Duke thanked the organisations for working together to address youth unemployment.

HRH then joined a Spear course in progress. Spear is an interactive, six-week training course for unemployed 16–24 year olds. The Duke chatted with current Spear students, asking about their goals and ambitions after the course.

At the end of the visit Tom Jackson shared the vision of SpearHead and introduced a short film about Spear graduate, Khadeejah Dahal, who had undertaken work experience at The Duke’s Office. Following the film, HRH said a few words, noting that the opportunity for Khadeejah allowed her to develop her skills but it was also a trade-off – her personality and presence in the office had also made a positive difference.

To find out more about SpearHead see – www.spear-head.org.uk

To find out more about Spear see – www.spearcourse.org