King Charles III's charity celebrates 50 years of helping young people find work with a gala in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — Scottish entrepreneur Mike Welch made his fortune as an online tire retailer. But he says he might've traded that lucrative career for one in funeral services if not for an intervention during his teenage years from the charity of King Charles III.

A dyslexic teenager from a working-class background, Welch struggled with his college entry exams and took a job installing tires after leaving school at age 15. When he lost that gig, he lined up at the Liverpool job center. The job board featured a funeral director's listing — a “great career," he's sure, but “pretty grim" — and an advertisement for a charity event where entrepreneurs could win business grants.

Welch took that one and, less than 24 hours later, found himself inside a church filled with vintage furniture and friendly grandparents. It looked nothing like ABC's “Shark Tank," but he recalls feeling very much like one of the reality show's contestants as he described his proposal to sell cheaper tires to niche customers like his friends who drove souped-up cars.

That was Welch's first interaction with the then-Prince's Trust, which became known as The King's Trust when King Charles III became Britain's ruling monarch in 2023. “It wasn’t a well thought out plan, really,” said Welch, who is now based in Florida. “But they backed me. And they backed my enthusiasm. And they gave me a chance.”

Generations of Brits can tell stories similar to Welch, thanks to The Prince's Trust and The King's Trust, which have been supporting young people launch their careers since 1976, when then-Prince Charles took his Royal Navy severance pay and established the charity at a time of great economic distress for the United Kingdom. In the past 50 years, the King's Trust says it has reached more than 1.3 million young Brits through its education and employment initiatives, creating countless success stories that include those of celebrated actor Idris Elba and noted fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.

As Charles and Queen Camilla make their first state visit to the U.S. since he became king, their visit will also include a nod to The King's Trust, as the charity works to deepen its impact in more than two dozen countries including the United States. On Wednesday, The King's Trust will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a gala in New York.

Members of the British Royal Family have traditionally served as patrons of charities, boosting awareness and fundraising for existing organizations in the areas where they rule as nobles. Observers say that Charles' lasting interest in young people's employment is evident in his decision to establish his own foundation and continue lending his title to its expanding work even as he ascended the throne.

“The harsh reality today is that the need for the work of people like the trust is growing at a rate far faster than we can grow,” said Jeremy Green, a trustee of the King's Trust Group Company and chair of the King's Trust USA.

Giving young people an opportunity

The trust's geographic footprint largely consists of countries that, at one point or another, fell under British rule.

Its programs reach young people through schools and established nonprofit partners. They include Get Hired, which helps young people — oftentimes without college educations — land their first jobs, and the Development Awards, a grant that helps them afford purchases to advance their careers such as a laptop or professional clothing.

The Enterprise Challenge is an afterschool program where students develop businesses that address a problem in their community.

“What we see every time is that young people want to be helped. They want to be taken seriously,” Green said. "And it’s not just giving them money. It’s giving them opportunity.”

LaKenya Sharpe, principal of The Collins Academy High School in the Chicago neighborhood of North Lawndale, said being taken seriously by The King's Trust has meant the world to her students, who won The King's Trust US' Enterprise Challenge for launching C2C: Crops2Customers. Their business grows and sells fresh vegetables to stores in their area, which lacked access to stores that sold produce.

“A lot of times our babies, especially in this community, feel like no one’s watching, no one is looking, no one is paying attention," Sharpe said. “This shows that they can achieve anything. Their belief now is ‘Oh, other people are watching. Other people are seeing this.’ And they ask ”How far can this go?" My answer is, “It can go as far as you guys take it. Don’t let anything limit you.'”

Highlighting philanthropic ties between the US and UK

Wednesday's gala aims to showcase “the very best of British-American philanthropy through the individual arts, culture, investments between the two countries,” according to The King’s Trust USA CEO Victoria Gore.

The gala arrives at a moment of unusual tension between the elected leaders of the two longstanding allies. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to support the United States’ war in Iran has angered President Donald Trump.

The trust’s leaders emphasized that the anniversary celebrations have been in place long before the recent rift. But Charles' emphasis on the country’s deep philanthropic ties could serve as a reminder of their shared interests, according to JP Tribe, a senior lecturer in law at the University of Liverpool who has written about royal patronages.

“Hopefully the gala is a kind of event which shows that both countries have and can continue to engage in very positive public benefit activity that helps the most disadvantaged in our society,” Tribe said.

Expanding in the United States

The King's Trust US has set a goal to reach 1,000 young people in the United States this year.

Their biggest partner in that effort is City Year, the education nonprofit that introduced The Collins Academy to The King’s Trust and sends young adults to help teach in schools nationwide. AmeriCorps members are helping them pilot a version of the “Get Hired” program. They're also relying on the nonprofit Per Scholas and Maryland school districts to test some other programs.

Gore said student participants tend to be very focused on their immediate communities. The goal is to show them they can have an impact where they live.

"Keeping employment in communities and keeping people in communities is actually the key to everyone’s success," Gore said.

Welch said it doesn't require giant investments to make an impact. He received a 500 pound ($677) grant and, perhaps more importantly, a mentor who provided office space for the nascent company that he’d eventually sell for 50 million pounds ($68 million) to Michelin.

He said the blueprint for The King's Trust's expansion to succeed already exists. It's just a matter of building relationships with on-the-ground partners who can reach the people with the most need.

“What we see in Chicago, what we see in Orlando, is really no different -- with obvious local nuances," said Welch, who launched his latest venture the Anglo Atlantic advisory and investment firm. "But it’s not very different to what we see in Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester.”

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