The 22-year-old apprentice carpenter, from Austhorpe in Leeds, is on a mission to help preserve the nation's heritage, by royal appointment from Prince Charles himself.

The former Leeds College of Building student is among just 11 apprentices from across the UK to be awarded a place on the Prince of Wales's Building Craft Apprenticeships programme.

Keir, who met the Prince during a royal reception at Highgrove, has now begun an eight-month programme that will see him complete work placements around the country. He has already been honing his skills on projects at Lincoln Cathedral, Windsor Castle and a heritage site in Dorset.

Joe Clancy, Keir's former tutor at Leeds College of Building, who put him forward for the Prince's programme, said: "Keir was a superb student and I am sure he will do the college proud on the programme.

"The initiative is really valuable in that it helps craftspeople build on their basic qualifications and puts them on the road to becoming a master craftsperson.

"The decline of traditional skill, not just in the UK but worldwide, poses a real danger to the heritage sector, to new building construction and to identifying with our cultural heritage and sense of place.

"In fact, as a response to this need, the college has just launched its first heritage skills course – in plastering – and is hoping to add courses in other trades over the coming months."

The heritage project was launched in 2006 in a bid to combat a growing skills shortage in traditional building crafts such as wood, stone, plaster and brickwork, and preserve traditional English architecture.

The apprentices are stonemasons, carpenters, plasterers and brickworkers who have attained an NVQ Level 3 in their chosen craft and demonstrated a basic level of skill.

Hank Dittmar, chief executive of The Prince's Foundation, said: "The shortage in skilled craftspeople means there are excellent careers in prospect for those with the right level of skills. It is realistic to expect our apprentices might go on to work on priceless heritage buildings both in the UK and internationally."