Prince Charles addressed the "alarming" number of young people suffering from low self-esteem at The Prince’s Trust Gala.
The 68-year-old royal – who founded the charity in 1976 to help vulnerable young people get their lives back on track – hosted his annual bash at Buckingham Palace on Thursday evening (08.02.18), where he was joined by the likes of actress Dame Helen Mirren, music legend Sir Tom Jones and pop star Cheryl Tweedy in celebrating the work of the organisation.
The future king spoke about the Trust’s annual report on Britain’s youths, and how shocked he was to learn that their confidence and happiness levels are at an all time low.
Speaking at the event, he said: "At The Prince’s Trust we have become increasingly concerned about young people’s confidence and sense of self-worth and my Trust released its ninth youth index report just two weeks ago and it shows that young people’s happiness and confidence are at the lowest levels since the study began, which is rather alarming.
"In the worst cases a fundamental lack of confidence can hold young people back from even starting or progressing in our programmes, so it was vital that we could respond in some way to this."
‘Not Unusual’ hitmaker Sir Tom echoed the Prince of Wales’ sentiment and said that young people need to be "encouraged" by their parents to do the things they want to achieve in life, which he believes helped him get where he is.
He said: "Young people need it if they’re unlucky, come from hard backgrounds.
"I had a good start in life, I was encouraged to sing right from when I was a child, when you see children you haven’t – they need help, they need people to do something for them and the Prince’s Trust is one of those things."
Prince Charles raises awareness of lack of confidence among youths
