A YOUNG Bromsgrove entrepreneur has featured in the Prince’s Trust and NatWest campaign to champion the UK’s next generation of business leaders.
Alexander Rhys Boardman, who is 30 and from Barnt Green, is a Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador.
Alexander, who suffers from anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and struggled to cope with everyday life, embarked on the Enterprise programme which works with 18 to 30-year-olds to turn big ideas into business reality.
He has now launched his own business and is selling his art around the World.
He said: “I was lacking direction and felt completely lost before I came to The Prince’s Trust.
“Because of my OCD, I see things in a linear, structured way which actually helps me to create really strong visual images.”
Alexander was able to find a creative outlet where his OCD could be turned into a positive.
“Painting has always been a way to express myself and I knew I had talent but until I came to The Prince’s Trust I didn’t know how to start a business or make a living from my art.
“I didn’t even know if it was for people like me.
“It’s quite scary to think about where I’d be without The Prince’s Trust. I’d never had people believe in me before and, on top of that, they taught me so much. To think I now have my own business is incredible.”
The #YouAreTheNext campaign features Alexander alongside four other successful Prince’s Trust supported businesses in a film, spreading the message that young people already have the ideas needed to carve out their own success.
It outlines the importance of enabling young entrepreneurs to thrive and shows the crucial role of family, friends and charities such as The Prince’s Trust, in helping young people succeed.
Click https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/support-starting-business to watch the #YouAreTheNext campaign film.
The campaign’s largest corporate supporter is NatWest which has been instrumental in supporting some of the UK’s best and brightest entrepreneurs to move from an idea to a viable, flourishing business.
Paul Beesley, The Prince’s Trust senior head of enterprise for Central England, praised NatWest’s vision and commitment which had enabled the organisation to support more and more young people into business.
“No young person should ever feel like there isn’t a place for them to work on their ideas and be supported into launching their own business. “Partners like NatWest allow us to continue to unlock the potential of the next young entrepreneurs.”
Since 1983, The Prince’s Trust has helped more than 85,000 young people into business.
Its Enterprise programme supports potential entrepreneurs with training and mentoring to help them learn business basics, write a business plan and test their idea. It even offers them access to funding.
Visit princes-trust.org.uk/enterprise for more on the scheme and how The Prince’s Trust helps thousands of people a year into business.
