Bradford youth worker Amilah Mirza, 21, grew up in a workless household after her father became ill when she was ten.

Her mother did not work because she was bringing up Amilah and her sisters.

Amilah, of Little Horton, said she had seen the effects of workless families in her community.

“You see a lot of young people hanging out on the street,” she said. “They don’t have anything to do and lose all motivation.

“Then it’s easy for them to get into things like drugs and gangs. We need more role models in the area – to show that if you work hard you can get results.”

After leaving college at 17 she realised she wanted to be a youth worker but was unemployed for more than a year before coming to The Prince’s Trust which helped her gain relevant qualifications.

She now works with the Bradford Youth Development Partnership on projects about gun and knife crime, inter-faith issues and health.

“I really struggled to find a job in youth work. I didn’t have the qualifications or experience I needed to get work in the industry,” she said. “The Prince’s Trust course really made a difference to getting the job.

“They could see I had transferable skills and I could do the work.”