Prince Charles: A million young people need help
The Prince of Wales has highlighted the impact of the pandemic on teenagers, saying this is a "particularly difficult time to be young".
In a rare article, published in the Sunday Telegraph, Prince Charles suggested there could be one million young persons "needing urgent help".
And he said the challenge of helping those in need was "unquestionably vast, nonetheless it is not insurmountable".
There have been many warnings over the impact of the virus on young people.
Researchers warned that education gaps between richer and poorer pupils widened during the lockdown, while specialists said the drop in face-to-face contact could damage teenagers in the long-run.
And young people are also hit hardest by unemployment, figures show.
Message of hope
Writing in the Telegraph, Prince Charles said: "For anybody, this is a difficult time - nonetheless it is an especially difficult time to be young."
He compared the existing situation to "other times when hope was scarce" - citing the concerns over youth unemployment in the 1970s that prompted him to create his charity the Prince's Trust.
The charity helps people aged between 11 and 30 seek employment opportunities and life skills.
"This year, we celebrate the fact that during the last nearly 45 years, we have helped a million young people to improve their lives for the better," he said.
But he later added: "Total these years since the trust was launched, there has never been a fairly easy time.
"However, there's never been a period as uniquely challenging as the present, when the pandemic has left perhaps another million young persons needing urgent help protect their futures.
"The task ahead is obviously vast, but it isn't insurmountable."
Prince Charles - who himself tested positive for the virus in early stages in the pandemic - set up the TEENAGERS Relief Fund to supply extra support to young people afflicted by the impact of the virus.
It comes as a large number of students at universities across the UK are in lockdown following coronavirus outbreaks.
Many students have expressed worry and confusion about the situation.
Meanwhile, although schools reopened in the beginning of term, England's children's commissioner warned that around 400,000 pupils were still out of school.
The government's chief medical adviser Prof Chris Whitty has previously warned that children are more likely to be harmed by not time for school than if indeed they catch the virus.
