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News

Prince William visits Mid Glamorgan in Wales

8th May 2008

Prince William visited community projects and a mountain rescue team in Mid Glamorgan today during a visit to Wales.

The Prince’s first stop of the day was the Valleys Kids Project in Pen Dinas.

Prince William arrived to chants of “William, William” and was greeted by dozens of local schoolchildren waving Welsh flags.

He knelt down to speak to the children and when nine-year-old Jessica James asked if he was the future king he smiled and replied: "Not yet".

After meeting local dignitaries, the Prince viewed the project’s work and saw a lively performance of break-dancing by local children.

Valleys Kids is a charity working with disadvantaged children and families in the valleys of South Wales.

After children from Valley Kids performed at the Prince William Cup between South Africa and Wales in November last year, Prince William was invited to visit the charity to see first-hand the work they do to change people's lives for the better.

Inside, William found himself challenged to a game of Wii tennis by youngsters.

Before the game began William's competitive side came out and he joked with his opponent, 18-year-old Martyn James: "You know you are not allowed to beat me."

When the teenager lost the game he admitted to being nervous and joked: "I was stitched up!"

Before leaving Prince William met children on the project’s Play Bus.

Later Prince William visited the Valleys Kids Soar Community Centre in Penygraig.

The building, a former Baptist Chapel, has been renovated after four years of fundraising. Valleys Kids use the building to provide a range of services including childcare, computer training and cultural activities.

Prince William saw restoration work and was briefed on funding for the project before meeting a group of elderly people taking part in "armchair aerobics".

Prince William congratulated the participants on being "very nimble" and teased one lady: "You were properly going for it there".

Before leaving, Prince William signed the visitors book and unveiled a plaque to mark his visit.

The final visit on the whistle-stop tour of South Wales was the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Base, at Dowlais Top, Merthyr Tydfil.

The Prince, who is Patron of the Mountain Rescue in England and Wales, met team members and inspected their facilities and equipment at the base.

He watched a slide show of previous operations before a quick change of clothes to perform a rescue of his own.

Prince William swopped his grey suit and red tie for brown cords and trainers before he was taken to nearby Morlais Quarry to take part in the training exercise.

There he was quickly shown the ropes before helping lower a "casualty" down the quarry on a stretcher.

The "casualty", Michelle Dickinson, 43, whose company Victorinox sponsors Mountain Rescue, said: "It was fantastic. It's every girl's dream isn't it - to be rescued by a prince."

Dan Coles, a 31-year-old volunteer from Newport, guided William through the exercise.

He said: "He was brilliant. I think he already had a bit of experience from being in the RAF.

"He was just talking about the experience and joking about Michelle being in the stretcher, saying he was hoping it didn't go wrong and that her life was in his hands.

"He was very chatty and said he had quite taken to it. He said he fancied a job in Mountain Rescue."

Tomorrow Prince William will visit a football project in Blackburn as President of the Football Association.