PRIME Initiative

Joblessness among the over-50s rose by 14,000 to 398,000 in the three months to January, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

This is on the official unemployment count. The official count includes only those out of work who are claiming Jobseekers Allowance, making it fairly inaccurate for both younger and older workers.  Younger workers disappear off the figures if they go back into education, while older workers stop being counted if they go onto health-related benefits - which many more over 50s are on than Jobseekers Allowance.

Nonetheless the official figures do provide an indication of whether the trend in unemployment is up or down. The trend now is still bad for the over 50s.

According to PRIME’s Peter Bennie, quoted in The Times, “It used to be that around 14 per cent of Jobseekers Allowance claimants were over 50. But in some towns and cities that figure is now at 35 or 36 per cent.”

The Times also talked to James O’Grady, 53, who lost his sales job last year and has just gone self-employed. And it talked to a younger jobseeker, an 18-year-old now on an apprentice scheme.

Full Times article on Age barriers to getting a job

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 3:00 PM
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T h e O l d e r p r e n e u r
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News for older entrepreneurs from The PRIME Initiative

Welcome to PRIME Business Club’s March 2010 newsletter.

You are receiving this entirely free because you contacted PRIME, the charity set up by Prince Charles, about starting your own business.

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In this issue
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1. Get a FREE business check-up

2. FREE eight day course for over-45 Londoners

3. Could you become a PRIME online mentor?

4. Newsletter controls

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1. Get a FREE business check-up
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PRIME has teamed up with UK business set-up specialist Clever Gecko to offer our members a FREE health check for their businesses.

Business Doctor is predominately aimed at those people who have already started and would just like some advice on how they are doing. The check-up will give you an opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have but also for the Doctor to highlight issues that may not be obvious to you.

If you are still just contemplating starting your own business then Business Doctor can still help by assessing your business idea for viability

To find out more and to take up the offer go to:
www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/category/offers/

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2. FREE eight day course for over-45 Londoners
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The Centre for Micro Enterprise, a unit within London Metropolitan University has funding to support a small number of people over the age of 45 who want to go self-employed.

Places on the course will be offered on a first come-first served basis. You must have a London postcode to be eligible.

They are offering an eight day programme delivered one day a week over eight weeks. The course is designed to help you to develop your skills to enable you to set up your own business

To find out more go to:
www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/2010/02/26/free-eight-day-course-over-45-londoners/

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3. Could you become a PRIME online mentor?
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Have you already experienced the challenge of setting up your own business? Would you be prepared to share your experience as a PRIME mentor?

Mentoring online can be the perfect way to share your hard earned wisdom with those who can benefit from your experience and knowledge, all in an interesting online environment.

To find out more go to: www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/category/volunteer/

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4. Newsletter controls
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Copyright (c) 2010, The PRIME Initiative
Astral House, 1268 London Road, London SW16 4ER

PRIME, the charity founded by Prince Charles to help people over the age of 50 across the UK to get back into work by starting their own businesses, has appointed Richard Martin as Chairman Designate. He will take over from the existing Chair Pauline Norton in the summer.

Pauline says “I am delighted that Richard will be succeeding me as Chairman and believe he will lead the charity into its next exciting phase of development. Richard brings such a wealth of experience and contacts from the business, consulting and venture-capital worlds.”

Richard Martin started out on the London Stock Exchange before moving into marketing, working for the oil company Castrol and then the brewers Courage. Richard founded, grew and later sold his own consultancy business. He has since been involved with a series of start-ups in a variety of roles – investor, consultant and non-executive director.

Richard says “with the recession in full swing and the number of older unemployed people rising sharply, there is a greater need than ever for PRIME. My task is to ensure the charity continues to make a real impact on the problem and I look forward to building on the tremendous work carried out by Pauline and the PRIME team. But now we need to raise more money to support a growing number of over 50s move out of worklessness and into enterprise.”

PRIME (the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise) is one of The Prince’s Charities, a group of twenty not-for-profit organisations of which HRH The Prince of Wales is President. PRIME offers a practical package of support for people who are over the age of 50 and out of work, including a Business Club and the Zopa-PRIME Olderpreneur Loan scheme.

The over 50s are particularly affected by unemployment and the recession, so setting up their own businesses is a vital way back into the labour market. In the UK as a whole some three million 50 to 65-year-olds have no paid employment, and the number is rising. The best thing anyone who finds themselves in this position can do is sign up for PRIME’s help at www.primebusinessclub.com.

“Over 50s who are out of paid employment for six months after being made redundant only stand a one-in-ten chance of being an employee again”, says Laurie South, Chief Executive of PRIME. “It’s never been more important to provide opportunities for over 50s who want to work.

“But opportunities are hard to come by at the moment. As a result many people are now seriously considering self-employment. New businesses started by the over 50s will be a big factor in the economic recovery”, says Laurie.

1. Source of figures
The figures are derived from the Annual Population Survey and Labour Force Survey published by the Office of National Statistics, available at www.nomisweb.co.uk and from the PRIME report Olderpreneur Outcomes - more details here.

2. Interview Opportunities
PRIME’s Chief Executive Laurie South is available. Ring 0800 783 1904 to arrange a time.

3. What PRIME does
PRIME provides three levels of service, all delivered free to the unemployed people aged 50 and over who need them. At the first level there is “ Universal Offer” consisting of an information pack delivered by post, a web site with invaluable business content, and weekly (PRIME Business Update) and monthly (The Olderpreneur) email newsletters.

PRIME’s “Intermediate Offer”, available in selected parts of the UK, consists of PRIME’s own events and workshops plus seminars we deliver at other people’s events; a new mentoring scheme starting off in three cities (Bristol, Belfast and Newcastle); and an innovative Olderpreneur loan fund, available across the UK and delivered in conjunction with specialist on-line lender Zopa.com.

Finally the “Enhanced Offer” consists of a more intensive training and tailored one-to-one support. This is only available in the locations where PRIME is able to secure special funding. In 2009/10 PRIME had such funding in Sheffield (Sheffield City Council) and Doncaster (Doncaster Council), both in Yorkshire, in North-East Derbyshire (Department of Work and Pensions), and in the Black Country in the West Midlands (sponsored by Microsoft).

In 2009 PRIME gave practical advice and help to over 4,000 people who were thinking of starting there own businesses, and over 40 per cent achieved a successful business launch.

4. Further information
For more information about PRIME visit www.primebusinessclub.com
Media inquiries to Faye Banerjee or Ian Stobie via 0800 783 1904 or prime@ace.org.uk

The PRIME Initiative is a registered charity (No. 261794-2) linked to the National Council on Ageing and a company registered in England (No. 4184314). Registered address: Astral House, 1268 London Road, London SW16 4ER. President: HRH The Prince of Wales.

If you’ve started your own business or have become self-employed after the age of 50, here’s a chance to get some free publicity. We’d like to hear from you. We’re looking for stories to put up on the case-studies section of this web site.

There are two ways of entering. If you use Microsoft Word just download this form (in Word 2003 doc format), fill in some details and email it back to us at primebusinessclub@gmail.com

Or if you prefer you can fill in the form immediately here online. You don’t need to fill in every field in great detail - just enough to give us the gist of what you are doing. We’ll also email you a link so you can return to your online form later and alter or add details should you want to.

You story could inspire others - and also warn them of pitfalls to avoid along the way. And it could also drive traffic to your web site, from both customers and journalists looking for stories. We’ll link to your web site from any case studies we write up.

Ideally your business needs to have got to the stage where it has started trading and have enough customers on board to say something about how things are going. We are interested in businesses up to about two years old - but older is acceptable if you can still remember lessons learned from your the early days of your venture.

We don’t guarantee we’ll put every business submitted up. We’ll contact you to go through your story if it’s suitable. Since we are not sure how many great stories we will receive at the moment we can’t promise to respond to everybody.

Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 4:23 PM

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T h e O l d e r p r e n e u r
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News for older entrepreneurs from The PRIME Initiative

Welcome to PRIME Business Club’s February 2010
newsletter. You are receiving this entirely free
because you contacted PRIME, the charity set up
by Prince Charles, about starting your own
business.

————–
In this issue
————–
1. Successful applicant gets Zopa-PRIME loan

2. Become a PRIME case study

3. Newsletter controls

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1. Successful applicant gets Zopa-PRIME loan
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Colin Bicknell, 50, from Northampton has
successfully secured a Zopa-PRIME loan of 7,120 pounds
at an interest rate of 7.88% to help start up
his energy assessment business.

PRIME has teamed up with Zopa Ltd and Bank of
America to create a peer-to-peer loan scheme to
help people aged over 50 to raise the capital to
start a business. The scheme is designed for
people over 50 who are finding it difficult to
raise money directly from a bank. It allows
someone to borrow anything from 1,000 up to
15,000 pounds - as long as they have a strong, viable
business plan.

To find out more about the scheme and to request
an information pack go to:

www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/loan-fund

To see Colin’s listing go to the Zopa website:
http://bit.ly/d3ZrSx

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2. Become a PRIME case study
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We are looking for people over 50 who have got a
successful business up and running - to be case
studies on our website. We would ask you a few
questions, and put your photograph, biography,
and a link to your business on our website.

If you would like the chance to be a PRIME case
study, please click on the link below and
complete the online application form.

www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/2010/01/29/te
ll-us-your-start-up-story-become-an-inspiration-
to-olderpreneurs

Good candidates will be confident and
charismatic, and we are particularly looking for
businesses of an unusual nature. The form gives
us a good idea of what you do, and what sort of
person you are, but don’t feel the need to write
lengthy replies. This will come later, if you
are selected for interview.

You can read case studies of fellow
Olderpreneurs here:

www.primebusinessclub.co.uk/category/prim
e-case-studies/

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3. Newsletter controls
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Copyright (c) 2010, The PRIME Initiative
Astral House, 1268 London Road, London SW16 4ER

The BBC 2 programme talks to a woman who proves you don’t have to be young to be entrepreneurial. Daksha Kumar founded her own company in her late 50s and now, aged 65, is doing very well. PRIME’s Laurie South is also interviewed.

If you have missed the programme you can see it from Thursday at BBCiPlayer

Daksha has been in the news recently because Tesco is stocking her Indian convenience food.

Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 5:58 PM

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T h e O l d e r p r e n e u r
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News for older entrepreneurs from The PRIME Initiative

Seasons Greetings. Welcome to PRIME Business Club’s
January 2010 newsletter. You are receiving this entirely
free because you contacted PRIME, the charity set up by
Prince Charles, about starting your own business.

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In this issue
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1. Create-your-own-web-site in the New Year

2. VAT is going up - try our calculator

3. Read older entrepreneur success stories

4. Loads of new business, accounting and tax info

5. Newsletter controls

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1. Create-your-own-web-site in the New Year
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The New Year is a great time to try something new.
So if you have not got a website yet, now is a good time
to start thinking about it.

PRIME has teamed up with UK web-site specialist Mr Site
to offer a discount of up to 40 per cent on the
company’s simple all-in-one web-site creation
packages.

Read on…

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2. VAT is going up - try our new calculator
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With the VAT rate going up to 17.5 per cent if your
business is VAT registered you will need to change your
published prices.

The government has announced that businesses have four
weeks to amend their shelf and product labels following
the reversion to the 17.5 per cent standard rate of VAT
at midnight on 31 December 2009.

Try our free online calculator.
Read on…

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3. Read older entrepreneur success stories
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We have put up new case studies on the PRIME website
where you can read about the experiences of other
olderpreneurs who have gone ahead and started a
business.

Read on…

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4. Loads of new business, accounting and tax info
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We have completed adding over 700 pages of detailed
information especially written by the accounting and tax
experts at Practice Web. This is all free at the PRIME
Business Club website.

Among these are:

The Business start-up area

The Tax system for the self-employed

Understand what your customers want

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5. Newsletter controls
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This email was sent by prime@ace.org.uk.
To no longer receive our emails, just
send an email to prime@ace.org.uk with
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To ensure that you continue to receive emails from
us, add prime@ace.org.uk to your email program’s address
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Copyright (c) 2009, The PRIME Initiative
Astral House, 1268 London Road, London SW16 4ER

The Guardian has published a long piece called “Starting a business - what the over-50s need to know“. Businesses started by people in their 50s are more likely to succeed than those begun by 20- or 30-somethings, it says, and author Patrick Collinson goes on to interview some examples of olderpreneurs.

PRIME’s free roadshow events receive a plug, as does the PRIME-Zopa loan.

Other contributors make some telling points.

Dr Barrie Hopson, author of The Rainbow Years: The Pluses of Being 50+ is quoted as saying: “Only one-third of the over-55s are in employment. Many have taken early retirement or redundancy payoffs, or are in ill-health. Yet the studies show that if you want to stay healthy, stay in paid work. It’s very difficult for those made redundant to come back into the workforce, with lots of evidence of age discrimination. Not surprisingly, when no one will give you a job, you have to create your own.”

Ron Botham, author of Nesta’s report The Grey Economy: Third Age Entrepreneurs Critical to Growth, says: “Traditionally, it has been assumed that entrepreneurship is a young person’s game, but research shows that the share of older entrepreneurs has increased and is increasing.

“If an entrepreneur starts up their business later in life they will have much more experience of work,” he continues. “Many older people are attracted to setting up their own business as they can actually work after the official retirement age without any pressure to retire.”

Upward Curve PR has chosen PRIME as its Charity of the Year 2009 to 2010. “We are so pleased to be able to offer PRIME PR support”, says Helen Ashley of Upward Curve. “We chose them because we felt that with our aging population and the current recession, the charity’s focus is particularly relevant.”

“The over-50s face huge problems of unemployment and age discrimination in the job market. It’s great that we’ll be able to work with PRIME to help them raise awareness of these issues and let over 50s know how PRIME can help them set up on their own.”

Laurie South, PRIME’s chief executive, said “Upward Curve has exactly the right sort of experience that PRIME needs. We are now better able to help more people over 50 start in business than at any time in our history. But we need to get the message of what we can do out there and in front of people. We also need to keep support coming in, so we can scale up our services and make them available more consistently across the whole UK.”

Upward Curve PR is an award-winning PR and communications agency working mainly with clients in the public and not-for-profit sector. Based in Kingston near London it has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, and brings this experience plus a strong ethical stance to the advice it offers.

Parents for Children (now part of TACT), an adoption charity specialising in finding homes for ‘harder-to-place’ children, was the Agency’s Charity of the Year in 2008. Edwina Brocklesby, Director of Parents for Children, said “I could not speak more highly of Upward Curve. They have transformed the potential of this agency and raised our profile beyond our wildest dreams.”

PRIME was one of 100 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups applying for the honour this year.

A Channel 4 Dispatches documentary has revealed that substantial barriers still face older people in Britain’s job market - despite the passage of laws supposedly outlawing such ageism. Called “Too old to work“, the programme transmits on Monday the 9th of February.

Not surprisingly, the investigation finds that being older - even over 45, is a big risk in today’s workplace. Older workers are more likely to lose their jobs, and are then much less likely to secure another one.

To test whether recruitment agencies do discriminate against older candidates, Dispatches carried out an experiment. It pitted two accountants, a 57-year-old father and his 25-year-old daughter, against each other in a contest to see who can achieve the most offers of work via agencies.

Martin Lloyd-Penny has 30 years of accounting experience whilst his daughter Tanne is still a trainee. They registered with the same recruitment agencies and kept video diaries of their progress. They had very different levels of success - no prizes for guessing who got the most job offers

The programme also looks into the impact of forced retirement, interviewing several people who have been forced out of their jobs, and reporting on the broader picture with a specially-commissioned You Gov survey.

Dispaches also investigates whether there is any scientific basis for commonly held beliefs about the effects of ageing. Professor Lorraine Tyler is shown measuring the brain activity of people aged 18 to 90 using neural imaging techniques. Her research contradicts the idea that older brains cannot function as well as younger ones.

The programme demonstrates through physical fitness tests that age is not necessarily an indicator of fitness or productivity.

Back in November 2006 we published a case study on the web about Norma, who had set up a business making and teaching people about mosaics.

Now Reuters have interviewed her. Here’s the clip. It also features Laurie South of PRIME.

Prince Charles describes the work of his charity PRIME and welcomes new sponsorship deal

Click on the right arrow button above to start video

I am delighted to speak to you today as the President of PRIME - the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise.

I founded PRIME over eight years ago after receiving large numbers of letters from people aged 50 and over telling me they were workless - had been made redundant or despite their best efforts were simply unable to find employment. Many of the letters referred to the Prince’s Trust, which offers practical solutions to change young lives. Some of them had even been active supporters of the organisation. But in one form or another, they all highlighted a lack of support available to help them when they needed it most.

This seemed to me to be a tragic waste of experience, of knowledge and skill. Here were people with at least a third of their lives in front of them, left feeling excluded from mainstream employment. People who had often already contributed so much to society, and learnt so much along the way. People who simply wanted to continue giving, and to develop and achieve as economically active adults.

In response to this I felt there was something I might be able to do to help, if I brought the right people together to examine the issue.

I truly believe everyone should have the opportunity to fulfill their potential and contribute to our communities. So that is why I founded PRIME.

PRIME therefore helps people aged over 50 to get back into the labour market, re-gaining the dignity of financial independence and the satisfaction of self-fulfillment by starting their own businesses. I have been delighted to meet some of the people PRIME has helped and know at first hand there are marvellous businesses out there. PRIME currently works across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and I hope it will shortly be active in Scotland.

Now I knew when I founded PRIME that there were a large number of over 50s who were workless, but was shocked when I discovered the true scale of the issue and challenge. Standing at 2.8 million - a simply huge figure, this number is growing all the time as our society ages. This means almost one person in three between fifty and the state pension age is workless. Yet almost a million people in this age group want to work.

If just five per cent of this group started a business, we would have 50,000 new enterprises, employing goodness knows how many more people. What an enormous contribution that would be to our communities and to the United Kingdom economy,.

I cannot tell you how delighted and grateful I was therefore to hear that Bank of America has made such an admirable commitment in becoming PRIME’s key corporate partner.

The unique approach adopted by the Bank of America, that includes supporting PRIME as a whole - from back office functions right through to client facing services, means the organisation  has a secure and firm foundation for future growth. This will enable PRIME to help even greater numbers of older people establish their own businesses, and also highlight and overcome some of the issues and stereotypes working against those over 50. It will also help PRIME expand its reach across the United Kingdom, which is something I am very much looking forward to.

Now more than ever, our economy and society needs the skills and knowledge built up over so many years that older people have to offer.

I therefore hope everyone watching this will think about their friends, their relatives, neighbours and colleagues over 50 who may be

• Workless or worried about their jobs
• Living on an inadequate wage
• Or nurturing an as yet unfulfilled dream, not knowing where to go for help.

Because you too can help us to help them. You can contribute to the leadership already shown by PRIME as a volunteer, as an advocate, as a mentor or as a donor.

Please remember, those over 50 have enormous potential and a huge amount to give. I hope you will work with PRIME, Bank of America and myself to turn this potential and promise into enterprise.

(( ENDS ))

HRH The Prince of Wales recorded at St. James’s Palace, London on the 19th November 2008 describing the work of his charity PRIME.

See also:

Bank of America backs PRIME’s mission

Joint PRIME / Bank of America News Release: 27 November 2007
Embargoed until: 00.01am 1 December 2008

Bank of America and PRIME - Working Together to Support the Over 50s to Find Opportunity in Enterprise

LONDON - Research published today, commissioned by Bank of America on behalf of The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME), provides new insights into the realities faced by older entrepreneurs in the UK.

The research was commissioned to mark the launch of a groundbreaking £2 million three-year partnership between the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and PRIME. It aims to unlock entrepreneurialism in the over 50s in the UK by helping this group get back into employment through setting up their own businesses. The partnership will focus on helping those over 50 realise their potential, challenge direct discrimination and enable more people to capitalise on their talents.

Bank of America’s partnership with PRIME forms part of the company’s new approach to community investment in the UK, myPotential myCommunity myEnvironment^TM, that focuses on building skills, unlocking and nurturing talent and increasing entrepreneurialism in marginalised communities.

The research shows that 16 per cent of those aged 55 to 64 have considered, but not realised, their ambition of establishing their own business, with 23 per cent wanting more relevant support to help them do so.

Older entrepreneurs are becoming increasingly important to the UK economy. The number of businesses launched by people aged over 50 has increased by half over a period of 10 years and this age group now accounts for 15 per cent of all business start-ups in England and Wales¹.

“We need to see a fundamental shift in attitudes towards older people …”

Laurie South, PRIME

Laurie South, Chief Executive of PRIME said: “We need to see a fundamental shift in attitudes towards older people and society needs to be more open to the talents and invaluable experience older people can provide to the UK. Through our new strategic partnership with Bank of America, we can continue to build our organisation to provide practical and financial support to even more over 50s throughout the UK.”

As the economic downturn continues to threaten employment opportunities for older people² the need for increased support remains critical. 54 per cent of the 50+ age group currently seeking work feel that the current challenging financial environment will have a detrimental effect on their employment prospects.

The benefits of investing in the 50+ age group is underlined by research showing that 70 per cent of businesses started by people over 55 are on average still operating after six years, compared to just 19 per cent overall³.

“We are delighted to be partnering with PRIME …”

Dennis Arnum, Bank of America

“We are delighted to be partnering with PRIME on such an innovative and significant platform in the UK,” said Dennis Arnum, Bank of America Chief Operating Officer for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.  “The ageing demographic across Western Europe, and globally, brings with it significant challenges for society, governments and businesses alike. Our partnership with PRIME will create opportunities by unlocking the barriers to enterprise and releasing the entrepreneurial talent and wealth of experience within our community.”

As part of the partnership, Bank of America will also provide counselling through its employee business mentoring programme.

Each business that PRIME helps establish will provide a host of other comprehensive socio-economic benefits for the UK - including greater levels of wealth and job creation and a reduction in dependence on state benefits. Transferring one per cent of the economically inactive over 50s into self employment creates at least 25,000 new jobs and results in savings in welfare payments of £175 million⁴.

PRIME is strongly supported by the government who are working alongside the charity to realise the above benefits.

“There is no age limit on entrepreneurial spirit.”

Peter Mandelson, BERR

Secretary of State for Business Peter Mandelson said: “There is no age limit on entrepreneurial spirit. During the current economic climate it is even more vital that older people have the confidence to make their business ideas a reality.”

“We are currently working with PRIME, Business Link, Enterprise Insight and the Regional Development Agencies to make clear the business support available for older people, be it in starting a business or becoming self employed.”

- Ends -

Notes to Editors:

About the research

A full breakdown of the research referred to above is available on request.

Unless otherwise indicated, all research was gathered by GfK NOP during November 2008. This consisted of a nationally representative omnibus survey of 1,000 adults aged 16 and over. This included 472 respondents aged over 50.

1, 3 & 4 - Improving employment prospects for the over 50s, Christopher Smallwood and Linda Obiamiwe, PRIME (January 2008)

2 - Recent CIPD and KMPG research revealed that in light of the economic downturn almost one in five employers say that they are going to enforce the Government’s retirement age policy - which allows UK organisations to make workers over 65 redundant without having to provide a business reason for doing so - more vigorously. Redundancy fears haunt labour market, Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and KMPG (31 October 2008)

About PRIME

There are 3.6 million people in the UK aged 50-65 who are not in employment. Unemployed people over 50 suffer the highest long-term unemployment rate. But an estimated 800,000 people currently classed as ‘economically inactive’ could return to the work-force if barriers to employment were overcome. Of those older people who feel at a disadvantage in the job market, a staggering 81 per cent say the attitude of employers to their age puts them at an automatic disadvantage. PRIME was founded to address these issues and in 2007 helped more than 1,000 over 50s return to work.

For more information about PRIME, please visit: http://www.primeinitiative.org.uk

About Bank of America

Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, Bank of America will embark in 2009 on a new, ten-year goal to donate US$2 billion to charitable organisations engaged in improving the health and vitality of its communities. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than US$200 million in 2007, making the bank the most generous financial institution in the world. Bank of America approaches community investment through an international strategy called ‘neighbourhood excellence’ under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Through Team Bank of America, employee volunteers contributed more than 650,000 hours in 2007 to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide.

For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit: www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

Reporters May Contact:

Laurie South, PRIME, +44 (0)20 8765 7833 or +44 (0)7778 271412

laurie.south@ace.org.uk

Elizabeth Wood, Bank of America, +44 (0)20 7174 4441

elizabeth.wood@bankofamerica.com

Ros Hunt, Cohn & Wolfe, +44 (0)20 7331 5442

ros.hunt@cohnwolfe.com

The Prince of Wales is 60 on the 14th of November 2008. PRIME itself was born around ten years ago, as a direct result of the approach of the Prince’s 50th birthday. He realised that for most people getting a job gets increasingly difficult with age. His post bag was full of letters from people desperate to work but unable to find anyone to employ them - because they were “too old”. PRIME and its sister charity in Wales PRIME-Cymru were the result - two of the 18 charities the Prince has personally founded.

The two PRIMEs help people over the age of 50 get round the problem of finding someone to employ them by setting up in business for themselves - self-employment as a means of getting back into the fray and earning a livelihood.

In addition to his charities, Prince Charles has also founded six social enterprises whose trading activities help fund them. The best known is the highly successful organic brand Duchy Originals, the most recent The Highgrove Shop. These activities are substantial - the charities alone raise over £100 million a year from all sources.

It would tempting to apply an American term like “social entrepreneur” to the Prince. But this would fail to do justice to the real roots of his commitment. This side of the Prince’s life gets well-deserved attention in an hour-and-a-half long BBC documentary two day’s before his 60th birthday.

“Charles At 60: the Passionate Prince” transmits at 8.30pm on BBC One on the 12th of November. The BBC has had unprecedented access over the course of a year to observe the Prince at work in the UK and abroad, at home at Clarence House in London, at Highgrove in Gloucestershire and Birkhall in Aberdeenshire.

“This important documentary sheds new light on the Prince of Wales”, says Nick Vaughan-Barratt, its Executive Producer. “It shows the Prince using his substantial influence to further a wide variety of causes – some of them unfashionable, some controversial – and it provides a rare opportunity to hear him speaking directly, not just about what he does but why he is so passionate about the many causes he espouses.”

UPDATE: Missed the programme?
Watch on BBC iPlayer.

More about the programme at the BBC web site

Full list of Prince’s charities and social enterprises

Philip Black has recently been made redundant at the age of 57. This programme in the Radio 4 Learning Curve strand follows him round London Olympia, talking to various exhibitors at the One Life Live show about what if anything they could do to help.

Back in the studio, presenter Libby Purves interviews Laurie South of PRIME, asking him whether self-employment can really offer a solution to Philip and people like him.

Listen to full programme