I became a Patron of the Jon Egging Trust in 2014 and am proud to represent its ethos and its work. The charity quite simply focuses on leadership, confidence and team work, the things that the military is really good at.
The Jon Egging Trust helps young people who are having a difficult time for a multitude of reasons. What impressed me about the charity is that it measurably and obviously works. It’s well-run, well-targeted and demonstrably effective. That’s the key for me. I’m not a patron of any other charity but the way the Jon Egging Trust targets young people is impressive.
The most important thing that the Jon Egging Trust does is to show young people that there are possibilities out there and people who want to help them. We are talking about young people who have low aspirations and low self-confidence – not through any fault of their own – that is just the life they have lived up to 13 or 14 years of age. The challenge is to remove those low aspirations and replace them with high aspirations and a sense of possibility and that is what the Jon Egging Trust does.
The young people I have seen go from staring at the ground to being able to stand up in front of audiences and speak about their experiences. It’s quite remarkable.
My aim is to advocate for the great work being done and to help the Trust expand across the country and change the lives of as many young people as possible.
