Prince Charles and Cheryl meet young people helped by Prince’s Trust

The singer and the prince met people helped by The Prince’s Trust Cheryl’s Trust Centre in Newcastle

(PA)

Following on from his meeting with Stella McCartney at Cop26 in Glasgow last week, the Prince of Wales has joined singer, Cheryl, in Newcastle today to meet young people helped by the Prince’s Trust.

Charles and former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl visited The Prince’s Trust Cheryl’s Trust Centre and talked to people who have benefited from courses to develop their confidence and skills.

The centre is a joint project between Cheryl’s trust and Charles’ charity and it was officially opened in 2018 after Cheryl raised £1 million in funding.

Cheryl, who is from Newcastle, said: “It was incredibly inspiring to meet young people in Newcastle today and hear how transformational the Prince’s Trust support has been for them.

“It really does show how important it is that young people have access to this help so they can build their confidence and skills.”

Cheryl and Charles handed certificates to young people who have successfully completed a 12-week personal development project.

The Prince of Wales iced a cupcake during his visit to Newcastle (PA)

During his visit, Charles iced a cake made by some of the people on the course. One of the course participants, George Dent, 22, said: “The cake making went well but it was a struggle for him to get the icing out.

“It was a lot easier speaking to him than I imagined.”

Charles also met young entrepreneurs who have been helped by the trust to start their businesses. One of the entrepreneurs, Satwika Saran, has set up a vegan and vegetarian sustainable delivery service - called Ma’s and Monkeys - in Hartlepool.

The 20-year-old uses tiffin boxes for the meals, which she collects afterwards, meaning there is no plastic waste produced. Saran spoke to Charles about Bombay tiffin deliverers and she said he was interested in her business.

She added: “It was surreal talking to him about Bombay - that is the business model that I want to bring to the North East.”

Another entrepreneur, James Tyler, spoke to Charles about his planned launch of a delivery service in Newcastle using electric bikes.

The 29-year-old said: “Charles is a big spokesman for environmental issues, and he seemed very interested in my business.

“I thought I would be more nervous chatting to him but he was really genuine and he seemed really interested in what we had to say.”