A Bradford man has received a business grant from The Prince’s Trust – to help him become a drag queen!

Ian Tucker, aka Yvonne Stephens, of Dudley Hill, was given £2,000 by the charity after enrolling on its exploring enterprise course in May.

Mr Tucker, 26, was out of work for more than a year, and, after having no luck at the job centre, approached The Prince’s Trust for help pursuing his passion for entertaining.

He said: “Everything was either part time or needed a driving licence, which I don’t have. I am not qualified in anything so I thought ‘what can I do?’ and I approached The Prince’s Trust about becoming a drag artist.

“A lot of drag artists have a normal nine to five job and do it in their spare time. For the Trust to think ‘this person could do it and do it full time’ was quite a shock.”

The organisation gave Mr Tucker a £200 grant to carry out market research into the feasibility of his enterprise, which will see him run shopping trips and perform at private parties and shows.

He then received help to write a business plan and was given a mentor to provide him with further expertise.

Mr Tucker, who studied performing arts at Calderdale College and has worked as entertainer at Butlins, said: “I am quite entertaining as a person. People have told me I should do stand-up but if you do stand-up you are stuck doing one thing. This seemed like a really good combination of comedy and making a living.

“I’m trying to promote Bradford and Bradford shops. Everybody seems to think of Bradford as a dead-end city and I am trying to prove it’s not like that. We have fun here and it’s okay to be yourself.”

For more information visit yvonne-stephens-dq.co.uk.