A survey by The Prince’s Trust, backed by Hollywood star Tom Hardy has shown a fifth of 11-19-year-olds have a negative outlook on what they feel their future beholds, with one in four thinking no-one believes in them. A sad and shocking statistic by all accounts.
However, MAD MAX’s Tom Hardy, who has experienced many challenges in his own past whilst growing up is speaking out about it all. Hardy is a Prince’s Trust ambassador and he has opened up in the past about his drink and drug addictions, before he turned his life around in his mid-20s by checking into rehab.
The new campaign ‘Youth can do it!’ is trying to turn around this negative mindset and give young people hope and belief in themselves and others for the future.
Tom Hardy says: “The Prince’s Trust is a charity that has always been close to my heart.
“I feel I have much in common with many of the young people I have met passing through its doors; all of whom have left me humbled, and continually remind me about what is important in life. Which is to pass on the message that every individual has value and worth, that the impossible is possible, and that all is not over when the chips are down and times are extremely hard.
“Even in the face of adversity, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of heart, tenacity, strength and potential of our young people to make a difference in the world. I am both grateful and honoured to be in any capacity a small part of this terrific charity.”
He adds: “I am proud to support this campaign. The Prince’s Trust has helped over 870,000 young people in the last 41 years, but there are still so many disadvantaged young people who need help to build a life for themselves. The Trust has set itself an ambitious objective to support one million young people in the next decade. The “Youth Can Do It” campaign aims to reach as many of them as possible with a message of empowerment. We are saying to them: we believe in your potential, and The Trust is there to help you reach it. We are also reaching out to the older generations to get behind this rallying cry to help The Trust support more young people.”
No doubt having the star power of Tom Hardy involved will bring lots more attention to this.
Prince’s Trust director Paul Brown said: “We hope this campaign will inspire young people to discover the confidence and determination they need to achieve their dreams.”
Good on you, Tom!
