An absentee father was what led Tottenham resident Darrell Spencer into a life of crime and anti-social behaviour when he was a teenager. But a Prince’s Trust loan was all it took to get him out of it.

Mr Spencer is not alone: since the charity was founded by Prince Charles in 1976 it has provided practical and financial support to more than 575,000 young people across the UK and continues to support 100 more every working day.

Its aim is to show troubled youngsters that greater fulfilment can be found from education, work and friends than crime and gangs.

A recent drive by the charity to defend youngsters against the pressures of gang culture follows a Trust survey showing 61 per cent of young people lack adult role models.

Almost a quarter of the 1,754 14-to-25-year-olds questioned said young people are looking for a role model in gangs, while the issues most likely to hold young people back was deemed to be low self-confidence and lack of work.

Mr Spencer, 30, turned his life around by using a £3,000 Prince’s Trust loan to set up a multi-media design company. But as a child he says he never felt he had the support necessary to achieve such success.

“The only people I had to look up to were the local criminals,” he said. “They were the ones with nice clothes and cars. They were the only people around to set an example. But drug dealers and people like that take advantage of you.”

When he was growing up, Mr Spencer’s only contact with his father was “a fiver in an envelope at Christmas”. His mother worked two jobs trying to make enough money to keep the family afloat.

He says not having his parents around had a huge impact on his life.

“People join gangs to get a sense of identity and for security. One of the biggest reasons they get involved is so they can protect themselves from other gangs, it’s a cycle. They’re scared if they go out alone they’re gonna get knifed, so it’s safety in numbers.

“Now I’ve turned my life around, thanks to The Prince’s Trust. I want other young people in my position to know they can do the same.”

Martina Milburn, chief executive of The Prince’s Trust, emphasised the need for society to find alternative support networks for vulnerable young people.

She said: “All the threads that hold a community together – a common identity, role models, a sense of safety – were given by young people as motivations to join gangs. “Our research suggests that young people are creating their own ‘youth communities’ and gangs in search of the influences that could once have been found in traditional communities.”

The report also puts into context recent alarm over youth crime generally. Only four per cent of young people surveyed said they have spent time as part of a gang, one per cent said they “regularly” take drugs, and just four per cent said they carry a knife.

More information about The Prince’s Trust is available at www.princes-trust.org.uk or by calling 0800 842 842.