Youth charity The Prince's Trust helps change young lives. It gives practical and financial support, developing key workplace skills. It works with 13-to-30-year-olds who have struggled at school, have been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law.

The youth charity provides a range of programmes that engage unemployed young people through music, including:

• Get Started with Music - a short course that harnesses young peoples' passion for music and builds the confidence and motivation to help them into work
• The Prince's Trust Enterprise Programme – providing start-up finance and mentoring to support those seeking self employment
• Community Cash Awards – providing grants for music-themed projects

Last year, more than three in four young people supported by The Prince's Trust moved into work, education, or training.

Further information about The Prince's Trust is available at www.princes-trust.org.uk or on 0800 842 842.

As a teenager, Sam Ho fell out with his family and started to run away from home. By the time he was just 15, Sam was sleeping rough on the street.

Sam found the streets dangerous and lonely. Fearing an unprovoked attack, he often got through the night by staying awake.

Seeking refuge in train stations, Sam would beg passengers for their spare change and find undercover areas to shelter from bad weather.

He says: "One freezing night in February was one of the worst nights of my life. I tried to sit in the lobby of a hotel to keep warm but I was soon asked to leave. I found shelter in the stairwell of an outbuilding next to the train track. It was the loneliest night of my life - I will never forget how helpless I felt. I didn't even have a coat on."

After eight months of being homeless and vulnerable, Sam had fallen in with the wrong crowd. He spent his sixteenth birthday in a Young Offender's Institution, where he had been sentenced to four years for his involvement in a bungled robbery.

Going to the Young Offender's Institution changed Sam's life for good. As well as receiving therapy to overcome issues stemming from his childhood, Sam learned to play the guitar.

Upon his release, Sam distanced himself from his old friends and set about turning his life around. He secured a grant from The Prince's Trust to set up as a musician. For the first time in years, Sam felt optimistic about his future.

Sam is now a signed solo artist, performing at weddings, conferences and events. He has been married to his wife, Justine, for seven years and they have three children together. He says: "I never dreamed of having a wife, children or even a home. I am so proud of how far I have come, with support from my wonderful family and The Prince's Trust.

"When I see groups of young people in their mid teens, I can't believe I was sleeping rough at their age. It never fails to shock me how young they look and how easy it is for a young life to spiral out of control. I think about it a lot, especially since becoming a father."

"The Prince's Trust believed in me at a crucial time in my life. Taking part in Station Sessions would be a great way to show my appreciation. I used to hang around train stations because I had nowhere else to go – I used to wish no one could see me so I wouldn't get moved on. I would be proud to stand tall on the stage at St Pancras and give back to the charity that helped change my life."

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