The Prince of Wales visits Caerphilly

The Prince of Wales undertook a number of engagements in a very snowy Wales last week.

Welsh actor Luke Evans joined His Royal Highness from Los Angeles to attend a Prince's Trust reception for young entrepreneurs. The Hollywood star, who played Gaston in Beauty And The Beast, took his parents to meet His Royal Highness at the Prince's Trust event in Newport. Luke said of being an Ambassador:

"I'm very proud of the Prince's Trust and to be part of something that makes a difference to young people throughout the UK and internationally as well.

His Royal Highness and Luke Evans spoke to Ben Clifford, who runs a surfing school in Swansea for people with disabilities. Mr Clifford set up his business, Surfability UK CIC, with the help of the Prince's Trust's Enterprise programme.



"We were talking about surfing with Ben Clifford," Evans added.



"He (The Prince of Wales) was talking about the fact that he had tried surfing when he was younger up in Aberystwyth.



"We both agreed that it wasn't the sport for either of us but then maybe we should have had Ben as a tutor."



The Prince's Trust Cymru has supported more than 3,000 people in Wales over the past 12 months.



Later that morning, The Prince of Wales visited Caerphilly Miners Community Centre, where he met

volunteers and learnt about the site's programmes.



Activities at the centre, which was founded by local residents in 2008, include language classes, yoga, cinema clubs and children's parties.



His Royal Highness crouched down on a colourful mat to play with a toy car with Rosie Jewell, aged 23 months, at the centre's playground.

After the colourful visit to the Caerphilly Miners Community Centre, The Prince of Wales joined residents, staff and supporters for a Christmas party to celebrate supported housing services of the charity Abbeyfield, of which he is Patron.



St Martins and Winston Osborne House, both in Caephilly, aim to help elderly people living alone to retain independence and dignity.

There was also a Christmas theme when The Prince visited the castle of Castell Coch, in Tongwynlais. Castell Coch was originally built during the 11th and 12th centuries when the native Welsh rulers were at war with Norman invaders.



It was left in the care of the state in 1950 and is now managed by Cadw, the historic environment service for the Welsh government.

During his visit, His Royal Highness viewed some of the castle's restored rooms and learnt about the free Cadw app. Erin Lloyd Jones, 33, project manager for the app, showed The Prince how to find augmented reality fairies around Castell Coch.



"He was saying how good it is to get children engaged, to pique their interest," she said.



To round off the day of engagements, His Royal Highness and the school children met Father Christmas and his sleigh in the castle's courtyard.