The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall began ‘Wales Week’ on Monday. Each July Prince Charles and Camilla make a trip to Wales to celebrate Welsh enterprise and community. During ‘Wales Week’ the royal couple will visit a variety of businesses as well as villages and towns, meeting local people and sharing in the community spirit that is quintessential of Wales.
During their week in Wales, Charles and his wife take up residence at Llwynywermod, their Welsh farmhouse near Llandovery in Carmarthenshire. They host numerous events at Llwynywermod, which this year will include a concert organised by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The Duchess will host a tea party for children from Ty Hafan Hospice with entertainment provided by Carmarthen Youth Opera.
Prince Charles speaks with a yung volunteer at Too Good To Waste on Monday. Photo credit: Sam Tegeltija/WalesOnline.
“The Prince and The Duchess always enjoy their annual summer visit to Wales. They are very much looking forward to engaging with communities in many parts of the country, and to seeing the rich variety of Welsh enterprise,” a spokesperson for Clarence House commented.
The first engagement on Monday kicked off in Cardiff as The Prince of Wales visited Glamorgan County Cricket Club for whom he is Patron. There, he met England and Australia players preparing for the Ashes Test Series. During his visit to the Club, he had the chance to met staff, volunteers, younger cricketers and young people taking part in a Prince’s Trust programme.
Glamorgan County Cricket Club (Glamorgan CCC) has a 125-year rich history that includes the County Championship three times and lifting domestic One-Day trophies on three separate occasions.
Glamorgan CCC is the only professional team in Wales. The Club plays its home matches at several locations throughout the principality. This season games will be held in Cardiff, Swansea and Colwyn Bay.
During Monday’s visit, Charles learned more about ‘Fed Up?’ a three-week course run by The Prince’s Trust in partnership with Glamorgan County Cricket Club. The course allows young people to improve employability skills, obtain qualifications, receive customer service training from professionals and gain vital work experience.
‘Fed Up?’ forms part of the Truth about Youth programme, which is funded by The Co-operative Foundation and presented by The Prince’s Trust. The Prince’s Trust helps disadvantaged young people to get their lives on track. It helps 13 to 30 year-olds who are unemployed and those struggling at school and who face the risk of exclusion. The Prince of Wales’s charity has helped more than 800,000 young people since 1976.
After spending time in Cardiff, Charles made a stop in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf to visit a re-use/recycling centre and social enterprise that The Prince’s Trust helped to start 20 years ago.
‘Too Good To Waste’ is a re-use/recycling charity and social enterprise that runs in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf. The charity reduces waste by collecting re-usable household items and redistributing them via its charity showrooms in Ynyshir and Aberdare. The money the charity raises allows it to support low-income households and afford training and volunteering opportunities.
During his visit, the heir to the throne met apprentices, staff and volunteers who help to make this fantastic charity the success that it is.
The group provides free furniture to people in need and supports around 288 volunteers & placements by giving work based training and experience. The scheme is brilliant as they re-use over 450 tonnes of household items, that would otherwise be destined for the landfill. Over 53,000 items are chosen each year and sold for re-use.
The Prince of Wales unvieled a plaque before heading to his next engagment of the day.
Photo credit: Sam Tegeltija/WalesOnline.
The final engagement on Monday had the Prince visit HMP Parc. During his visit, he took a tour of the prison gardens before meeting young offenders who are part of the ‘Get Started with Football’ programme run by The Prince’s Trust.
The Prince’s Trust Get Started with Football course at HMP & YOI Parc is a week-long programme run in partnership with Cardiff City FC Community and Education Foundation. Funding for the programme comes from the Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association.
Participants in the programme are 3-6 months from release and able to gain qualifications in coaching and first aid. They also complete workshops in healthy eating and football leadership as well as running sessions to put into practice the skills they have learned. The course is intended to help young people gain the skills, self-confidence and motivation they need to move into work, education or training upon their release from prison.
On Tuesday, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will visit Wern Isaf House, the Village Bakery, The Raven Inn and the Royal International Pavilion.
Photo credits: Sam Tegeltija/WalesOnline
