have racked up \u00a380,000 in student debt, yet it can take them 18 months to secure a job,<\/a>\u201d he said. \u201cMany lack social capital and access to employer networks. They\u2019re often the first in their families to attend university and believe the degree alone will open doors \u2014 but they apply late in the process and end up at the back of the queue.\u201d<\/p>\n‘I applied for dozens of jobs with no reply. It was soul destroying’: How a King\u2019s Trust Course changed a life<\/p>\n
Emmanuel wanted to be a sports therapist, but his ambitions were derailed at 18 when a fist fight led to him being expelled from college. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing well studying sports science, so losing my place was devastating,\u201d he said. \u201cI was raised in a gang-affected area of east London. Sometimes you had to defend people you cared about. In my case, it was a friend new to the area who was being targeted and I weighed in to defend him \u2014 to my cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Emmanuel\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SEI262201430.jpg\")
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Emmanuel<\/p>\n
Unsure what to do next, Emmanuel applied for entry-level jobs. After more than 100 applications, he secured a role as a warehouse goods picker. \u201cIt was during the pandemic, we had to stay meters apart, we couldn\u2019t speak to each other, and if we got too close, they yelled at us,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Determined to seek more for himself, he resigned and returned to college, and secured a place at university, but now he was older than his classmates and struggled to fit in, so he dropped out. <\/p>\n
By now Emmanuel was 21 and he started applying for lots of different jobs. When he got no response, it started to get to him \u2014 he stopped going out socially and began shutting himself off from the outside world. For a natural extrovert, this was a troubling change. The lack of response from prospective employers left him feeling invisible \u2014 and began to take a serious toll on his mental health and self-esteem. <\/p>\n
\u201cI became convinced I had no significance, purpose or future. I wanted to disappear\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmanuel<\/p>\n
\u201cI applied for dozens of minimum wage jobs \u2014 well over 50 \u2014 and I barely got a reply,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was like I didn\u2019t exist. It was soul destroying. My school mates were starting to graduate from university and I was getting nowhere and feeling left behind. I became convinced I had no significance, purpose or future. I wanted to disappear.\u201d <\/p>\n
Emmanuel, now 23, had no idea that just months later, a referral from the Job Centre to a King\u2019s Trust course would turn his life around. <\/p>\n
![\"Destination](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757577142_726_Destination-Unknown.jpeg\")
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Destination Unknown: helping young people into work<\/p>\n
The Standard<\/p>\n
At first, he was sceptical. \u201cI reluctantly decided to attend the course, but I was slouched back in my chair thinking, \u2018Naa, what\u2019s the point?\u2019 Then this energetic youth support worker spoke to us. Something in the way he talked got under my defences. My confidence was at rock-bottom, but I could see that other young people there had faced even tougher challenges. I felt inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the course of the three-month programme, Emmanuel\u2019s energy and confidence returned. \u201cI discovered I was actually charismatic \u2014 a leader and a good public speaker. I became like the older brother of the group, helping others. I started to believe I could be a great youth worker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI started to believe I could be a great youth worker\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmanuel<\/p>\n
With support from The King\u2019s Trust, he applied for scores of youth worker positions \u2014 and landed one at Dallaglio RugbyWorks, a charity founded by former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio that supports young people excluded from mainstream education. <\/p>\n
A year in, Emmanuel has passed probation and has a permanent position. \u201cI absolutely love it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat course was the turning point in my life. If I hadn\u2019t tried it? Honestly, it\u2019s not something I like to think about. I don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a310<\/strong> could help a young Londoner travel to a job interview<\/p>\n\u00a320 <\/strong>could fund an hour of support from a trained youth worker<\/p>\n\u00a350<\/strong> could provide appropriate interview clothing<\/p>\n\u00a390 <\/strong>could supply starter equipment, such as hairdressing kit for a salon apprenticeship<\/p>\n\u00a3150<\/strong> could provide training and support through a King\u2019s Trust course<\/p>\n\u00a3250<\/strong> could enable a young person to attend a King\u2019s Trust \u201cGet Hired\u201d event<\/p>\nThe King\u2019s Trust has contributed \u00a380,000 to help the Standard cover the costs of this appeal. This funding has been used to raise awareness of The Trust\u2019s charitable work, helping it to transform young lives. The King\u2019s Trust is a registered charity incorporated by Royal Charter in England and Wales (1079675) and Scotland (SC041198).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The facts are stark: Black young people aged 16-24 face unemployment rates of 27 per cent, compared to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,3374,393,4884,257,142574,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-415264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-employment","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-the-kings-trust","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115184582646095515","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"WEST](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/newsletter_we_final_embed_desktop.png\")
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