Warehouse Project boss Sacha Lord is launching a foundation to help young people in Manchester get into the hospitality industry. The night time economy advisor to the Mayor’s office is starting the charitable organisation with his own money, and with contributions from other figures in Manchester’s hospitality industry.
John Drape, founder of Ground Control, the events company which puts on Lord’s festival Parklife, will be among the donors, while its day-to-day running will be taken on by his wife Demi Lord. Other figures involved in the foundation will be announced in the coming weeks.
“This is something that’s been simmering for a couple of years, from back during lockdown” he said. “When I was at school, 15, 16, 17, all the kids in my school seemed to know what they wanted to do. They had an idea of a career path, which A Levels they wanted to do, which University they wanted to go to.
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“I just didn’t have an understanding at all of what I wanted to do in life, and that created quite a bit of anxiety and concern. For a 15 or 16-year-old to have that going on so early on in life is not particularly pleasant.
“I didn’t go to University, and didn’t get any A Levels. Well, I got two Us and an E. But I think I’m walking evidence that in my industry, in events and in hospitality, there is no barrier, anybody can get involved in it.”
The foundation will encourage young people from the Greater Manchester area to apply for funding for college or vocational courses, even for university studies.
“I’m at a stage in my life now where I’m fortunate enough to be able to start helping people. There are so many kids in Greater Manchester, particularly after Covid, who will be in the same position I was back in the day, where you feel like everyone else knows what they’re doing and you don’t,” he went on.
“If I can set up this foundation to alleviate that and try and help them carve a career in events and hospitality, that can only be a good thing. The funds will be a combination of personal money, and I’ll be reaching out to other colleagues in hospitality as well.”
The foundation is in the process of applying for charitable status, and plans to be up and running later this year.
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