Young people from Newham College were invited to the headquarters of The Prince’s Trust to speak to the Prince of Wales about youth unemployment.

The students, who are on a Prince’s Trust programme in East Ham, shared their experience of being young and unemployed with Prince Charles and spoke to him about their role as a Job Ambassador.

The Prince’s Trust identified Newham as a priority area for the scheme which employs around 100 young people to help 1,000 others into employment per year.

One student who spoke to His Royal Highness was Gemma Moring, 19, who joined a Prince’s Trust programme at Newham College last month after being unemployed for 13 months.

Gemma said: “I was desperate to get a job so I could help support my mum and my younger brother. But no matter how hard I tried, I just got rejected so many times.

“It’s horrible being unemployed and having nothing to get up for in the morning.

“You feel like you’re going nowhere in life and you don’t know what you’re doing wrong.

“I have loved every minute of the Team programme so far. It has really boosted my confidence and made mt hink about what I’m good at.

“Thanks to the Prince’s Trust, I have learnt a lot about myself and feel a lot more positive about getting a job

“I would love to train as a youth worker and perhaps run a Prince’s Trust course myself one day.”

Gemma was joined by fellow coursemate Lurlene McDermott from Newham College.

The Job Ambassador scheme will launch in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands where youth unemployed is particularly high, then it will be rolled out across the country.

Rosemary Watt-Wyness, regional director for The Prince’s Trust in London, said: “The Prince’s Trust Job Ambassadors scheme will help young people int he areas hardest hit by youth unemployment.

“Newham will clearly be a priority area, as around one in four young people in the borough are struggling to get a job.”

Last month, youth unemployment reached record-breaking levels with 1.04 million affected.