HRH The Prince of Wales announced the donation at The Trust’s annual Invest in Futures gala dinner which took place at The Savoy. Duane was a guest at the event alongside Prince’s Trust supporters Joanna Lumley OBE, Rob Brydon MBE, Jerry Hall, Tom Hardy and Tinie Tempah.
Jackson’s personal donation to The Trust followed the sale of his business KashFlow, which provides accounting software for small businesses.
As we have previously reported, during a two and a half year prison sentence for drugs related offences Jackson taught basic IT skills to other inmates and on his release, decided to try and start up his own business. The Prince’s Trust supported him with a low-interest loan and a mentor and he went on to set up KashFlow.
Jackson said: “Making this donation to The Prince’s Trust means the world to me. They were there for me when I was at my worst – I was a young offender who was unemployed, with no qualifications and, having grown up in the care system, no family to offer financial or moral support.
My secret is out. Prince Charles just announced that I’ve given £100k to @princestrust.
— Duane Jackson (@DuaneJackson) February 6, 2014
The Trust saw past all of that and helped me to see that I could be a success. I am delighted to be able to support the amazing work they continue to do with young people up and down the country.”
The funds will enable The Trust to continue to provide support to disadvantaged young people across the UK. Three in four young people helped by the charity move into work, education or training.
Martina Milburn CBE, chief executive of The Prince’s Trust, said: “Duane is one of The Prince’s Trust’s success stories, and we are incredibly proud of everything he has achieved. It is fantastic to see that he is now giving back to The Trust, and his extremely generous donation will help many more young people turn their lives around. He is a true inspiration.”
