Featured Charity of the Month
Training for Life and the Hoxton Apprentice
Founded in 1995 by award-winning social entrepreneur, Gordon D'Silva, Training For Life enables some of the most disadvantaged people to make real changes to their lives. Much of this work is done through training or 'Prospect Centres'. Prospect Centres allow Training For Life to help local communities improve the quality of their lives by addressing their needs, whether it’s employment, health, leisure or residential needs.
Since 1995, Training For Life has:
- Returned over 12,000 people previously long-term unemployed, homeless or from prison back to full-time education or employment and created more than 150 new jobs.
- Acquired and refurbished abandoned buildings and converted them into Prospect Centres.
- Developed a business model that allows for building a capital asset and endowment base. The market value of the Prospect Centres is now approximately £20m.
- Generated a profit from the development of social enterprises, such as the Hoxton and Dartmouth Apprentice restaurants. As a social enterprise, 100% of the profits are fed back into the charity.
The Hoxton Apprentice
One of Training for Life’s successful ventures is the Hoxton Apprentice. Located in the buzzing heart of Shoreditch, the Hoxton Apprentice opened its doors in May 2004 and is now a highly commercially run restaurant with a social and environmental conscience. Located in a former Victorian Primary School, the restaurant was the brainchild of Gordon de Silva and Prue Leith. Their philosophy was to create a top quality eating experience in a stylish venue where the staff were former unemployed people training for a new career. The restaurant has won many awards including a Michelin recommendation and is listed in several good food guides, but, more importantly, 70% of the trainees have gone onto new jobs elsewhere at prestigious establishments including Buckingham Palace!
One hundred per cent of the net profit at The Hoxton Apprentice goes back to Training for Life helping to continue to return the long-term unemployed to full time employment.
The Hoxton Apprentice can be hired out for private functions, Christmas parties, book launches and a whole host of other social events, making it the ideal venue for anyone who likes to have fun and help others.
Training For Life is a registered charity 1040422, and a company limited by guarantee 02959580
See past charity of the month entries here.