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King Charles III

Farming & PRIME Cymru the focus of Prince Charles’s last day of #WalesWeek

All good things must come to an end and ‘Wales Week’ reached its conclusion today.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited villages and towns throughout Wales, where they met local people and shared in their community spirit.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall toured Humble by Nature a working organic farm run by broadcaster Kate Humble on Thursday. Photo credit Louise Rixon @lourixon.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall toured Humble by Nature a working organic farm run by broadcaster Kate Humble on Thursday. Photo credit Louise Rixon @lourixon.

On Friday, Charles visited Maesllwyni Farm, owned by organic lamb farmers Dafydd and Glenys Jones. The farm is 190-hectare organic beef and sheep farm in Mid-Wales. Run by the Jones family, the farm supplies Waitrose’s Duchy Organic range.

Prince Charles, a keen organic farmer himself, also met other farmers taking part in a Duchy Future Farming Programme Field Lab

The Duchy Future Farming programme encourages all farmers, both organic and non-organic across the country to create innovative methods, to find lasting solutions to the challenges facing agriculture.

The hub of this network is that of the field labs, led by farmers and growers, sharing ideas, targeting practical challenges and carrying out field experiments. The programme affords farmers the skills to run sound trials and gives them a place to disseminate the results to others, rendering practical solutions, increasing yields, and decreasing farm reliance on outside inputs.

Following his farm visit, the heir to the throne attended a reception for local farmers and the Cambrian Mountains Wool Project.

Charles founded the Cambrian Mountains Wool Initiative to help sustain the traditional upland farms and rural communities of Wales. Not only supporting local production, Charles designated a group of Cambrian Mountains Tourism Ambassadors, to support the contribution of local hotels, restaurants and attractions to the area’s economy and the environment.

It was during his time as a student of Welsh at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth in 1969 that Charles first explored the Cambrian Mountains.

In 2008 to continue his support of the Initiative, the keen watercolourist created a painting of Cwm Berwyn as seen from the top of Rhiwdywyll with Pantshiri on the left and Craig y Fintan on the right. The watercolour became a limited edition lithograph available for sale with all profits from the 100 available given directly to the Cambrian Mountains Initiative and its interests.

Following today’s reception, Charles viewed the International Design Exhibition of items made in local wool.

The third engagement of the day saw the royal meet with mentors and those over the age of 50 who began their businesses through PRIME Cymru.

PRIME Cymru (The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise in Wales) was founded by The Prince of Wales in 2001. Its goal is to support and advise those over the age of 50 who are underemployed or risking redundancy. The charity also helps those at risk of being marginalised and those facing older age poverty.

PRIME Cymru operates the largest mentoring programme in Wales with more than 360 volunteer mentors who assist clients to find employment, begin their own businesses or join relevant volunteering to gain skills and self-confidence.

Following the meeting of mentors and participants in the programme that began businesses, The Prince of Wales presented awards at PRIME’s annual ceremony.

As the week in Wales ended on Friday, the last event seemed perfect; a pub stop.

Charles stopped at The Glan yr Afon Arms, which is supported by The Prince’s Pub is the Hub initiative.

The pub coordinates regular charity events and has raised up to £30,000 in one day for various charities including the Wales Air Ambulance, Cancer Research and other local causes.

During his visit, Charles met with community groups who meet at the pub and spoke to tractor enthusiasts and harness racers.

Next week will see The Duchess of Cornwall inaugurate the new Wichelstowe Landing Stage in Swindon. Also on the books is Charles and his wife attending the 157th Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate and Camilla visiting St. Peter’s Eaton Square Church of England Primary School.

Featured photo credit: Korona Lacasse via Flickr
Photo credit: Louise Rixon via Twitter