The Prince of Wales has warned that one million young people could need 'urgent' help amid the looming risk of mass unemployment caused by the coronavirus.
There has 'never been a time as uniquely challenging as the present', and the coronavirus crisis would leave more young people in need of support, he said.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Charles said that the challenge of helping those in need was 'unquestionably vast, but...not insurmountable'.
'For anyone, this is a difficult time - but it is a particularly difficult time to be young,' he said.
'I have always felt that it is the young people who have lived through the toughest experiences who have most to offer back to society.'
He said the 'destructive hopelessness' of unemployment was looming again, and compared the challenges faced by today's society to those from the seventies.
Prince Charles has warned that one million young people could be in need of 'urgent' help amid a looming unemployment crisis, saying: 'For anyone, this is a difficult time - but it is a particularly difficult time to be young'
Charles' charity, the Prince's Trust, was set up in 1976 to provide vulnerable young people with opportunities and life skills. It has recently helped its millionth person, according to The Telegraph.
The prince said that it was 'humbling' and 'hugely encouraging' to see such people overcome their challenges and go on to support younger generations in their communities.
'This is the virtuous circle I always hoped would be achieved,' he said.
'Over all these years since the Trust was launched, there has never been an easy time.
'However, there has never been a time as uniquely challenging as the present, when the pandemic has left perhaps another million young people needing urgent help to protect their futures.
'The task ahead is unquestionably vast, but it is not insurmountable.'
The Prince's Trust set up the Young People Relief Fund in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic to provide extra support to young people affected by the impact of the virus.
Charles said he was 'moved more than I can possibly say' by the network of supporters, partners and funders and their 'continued, overwhelming generosity and compassion.'
He also praised the achievements of the young people involved with the Trust whose 'courage, determination and enthusiasm' provided motivation for the Trust's ongoing work.
The prince said that it was 'humbling' and 'hugely encouraging' to see such people overcome their challenges and go on to support younger generations in their communities. Pictured: A person wearing a mask walks past a Job Centre during the pandemic
'They are a credit to themselves, their families and their communities, and our society is so much richer for what they have achieved,' he said.
A recent survey from the trust found 58 per cent more 16 to 25-year-old's were concerned about unemployment compared to this time last year.
The Prince went on to warn that society must not let optimism 'drown beneath a deluge' of negative economic news, adding that it is 'all too easy to assume that nothing can be done.'
His comments echoed those made by The Queen in April in a rallying cry to the nation.
'While we have faced challenges before, this one is different,' she said. 'This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.
'We will succeed - and that success will belong to every one of us.'
