Prince's Trust visit for Charles at Portmeirion

The Prince of Wales has met youngsters supported by his own charity as he continued his tour of Wales.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall headed to Portmeirion, Gwynedd, home of the cult 1960s television series The Prisoner.

The royals were greeted by volunteers, mentors and participants involved with the Prince's Trust.

The Prince also viewed a project to re-introduce red squirrels at Plas Newydd on Anglesey.

Later the Duchess, who is president of Barnardo's, visited the Caban Bach family centre in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

She chatted with people involved in child care and parenting support work.

The prince was visiting Portmeirion, designed by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, in his role as president of both The Prince's Trust and Business in the Community.

He was last at the Italianate village in 2003.

Among those he met were six trainee builders dressed in hard hats and high-visibility vests who are on a construction programme organised by the charity.

One of the young builders, David Forshaw, 20, from Rhyl in Denbighshire, said: "It was an experience. He asked what it was like to be on the course.

"I told him we got licences to drive fork-lift trucks and that we have now got jobs on a building site in Rhyl.

"We showed him some pictures of us building a brick wall on a farm in Bangor.

"We're all very grateful for the work of the Prince's Trust."

The Prince dusted off his best Welsh to greet the crowd, saying meeting youngsters who benefited from the trust had given him enormous encouragement.

In his speech he mentioned those on the construction programme, saying: "I was so thrilled to discover they've all got jobs at the end.

"And they're getting into hospitality - they've all learned how to smile and put up with awkward customers, like myself."

Another youngster to meet the royal party was 16-year-old Nathan Sutcliffe from Dolgellau.

The teenager is responsible for a scheme to plant 100,000 trees in Wales, called Tree 4 Wales.

He has so far planted 4,000 trees, and handed the Prince a cherry tree in bloom to mark his visit.

Prince Charles also headed to the National Trust's Plas Newydd, home of the Marquess of Anglesey, to view a project to re-introduce red squirrels into trees.

Six squirrels brought to the grounds in October 2008 bred successfully, and Trust staff said red squirrels had been spotted in the garden.

The Prince, president of the National Trust and patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, which he helped launch last year, has warned the red squirrel could be extinct in the UK within 10 years.

On Monday, Prince Charles spoke up for the wool industry during a visit to the National Wool Museum at Dre-Fach Felindre, Carmarthenshire.

The prince, patron of the Campaign for Wool, criticised cost-cutting measures such as introducing new breeds of sheep which naturally lose their wool.

The royal couple also hosted a drinks reception for villagers at their farmhouse, Llwynywermod, in Myddfai, near Llandovery, on Monday.

This is the third year they have used it for entertaining local people.