Torquay Holiday Park operator partners with Prince's Trust to help young people into work

Torquay Holiday Park operator Parkdean Resorts has announced a major new partnership with youth charity, the Prince’s Trust.

The agreement marks The Prince’s Trust’s first ever charitable partnership with a holiday park operator, and the two parties will work together to empower and support young people seeking employment, through a number of fundraising initiatives and development opportunities.

Parkdean Resorts - the UK’s largest holiday park operator - will work closely with Prince’s Trust to create meaningful opportunities for young people across the UK seeking employment, by developing exciting initiatives and work experience programmes within Parkdean’s operations and across its 66 holiday parks.

Through the partnership, Parkdean Resorts plans to join the trust’s ‘Get Hired’ scheme, which bridges the gap between businesses looking for an efficient recruitment process and young people who are ready to move into work but are struggling to find the right opportunities.

The company is also hoping to take part in the trust’s “Get Into” programme, two- to four-week programmes which give young people an insight into the world of work and give them direct work experience within an industry.

In addition, Parkdean Resorts will fundraise a minimum of £50,000 within the first two years to help Prince’s Trust launch at least 20 in-school programmes for young people. These programmes will help raise the aspirations of hundreds of young people at risk of disengaging with their studies and prepare them for a successful career.

Kerry Turnbull-Murphy, head of people services at Parkdean Resorts, said: “A career in hospitality is truly rewarding, and can help young people to develop the skills and confidence to thrive both professionally and personally. The Prince’s Trust is the gold-standard when it comes to supporting young people, so we’re absolutely thrilled to be working with them to share our expertise and help guide and nurture young talent in the hospitality sector.”

This year, Parkdean Resorts will hire 11,000 people, with more than 10,000 seasonal and 750 permanent roles on offer, with 250 different careers available across its business.

The holiday park operator is a keen supporter of initiatives which aid youth employment and professional development and those that encourage careers within the hospitality industry, and last year pledged its support to Hospitality Rising, an initiative created to help tackle the industry’s staffing crisis, which aims to attract more people to join the industry and help fill the 400,000 vacancies the sector is currently facing.

Sharon Arbuckle, senior head of corporate partnerships at Prince’s Trust, said: “Living through a pandemic has been devastating for young people; impacting their education, their social lives and limiting their options for getting a job.

“Parkdean Resorts already hire thousands of young people every year and provide development opportunities, so they are the perfect partner to help us support young people in creating a future for themselves.”

Parkdean Resorts is an Ofsted-accredited employer, and one of only four employer-providers on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers, providing qualifications ranging from Level 2 to Level 5, the equivalent of a Foundation Degree, to hundreds of employees every year.

The company was also a supporter of the Government’s Kickstart Scheme, giving young people an opportunity to launch a career within the industry at one of its 66 parks across the UK. As an official Kickstart employer, Parkdean Resorts provided young people on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment with a six-month work placement, alongside a fully approved training programme, to give them the skills needed to succeed in the industry.