News

News

TRH spend a day in the North East

8th November 2006

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall began a two-day tour of the North East of England today.

They spent the first day in Newcastle where they visited the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle United’s home St James’ Park, and a city primary school before heading to Jarrow for afternoon tea with a community-based charity.

Tomorrow The Prince and The Duchess will be in Northumberland where they will visit an organic farm in Bellingham, the Holly Bush Inn in Greenhaugh and open a newly refurbished community facility in Rothbury.

Their Royal Highnesses arrived at Newcastle Central railway station and The Duchess was presented with a bouquet of flowers by seven-year-old Lucy Derbyshire, from Jarrow in South Tyneside, the niece of Newcastle Central station manager Phil Crow.

The Prince and The Duchess then visited the Royal Victoria Infirmary, which was built 100 years ago.

The hospital remains at the forefront of technology, yet has retained architectural features from the day it was opened by King Edward VII.

It has striking blue and green tiles and also the world’s largest collection of Royal Doulton wall tiles, which depict nursery rhymes.

The Prince and The Duchess then met poorly children who were being taught by a team of specialist teachers in a bid to keep up with their school work.

Among them was Ali Adil, 12, from Fenham, Newcastle, who has cystic fibrosis and was studying English.

Afterwards, he said: “It was scary but good to meet them. Prince Charles asked if the tube in my nose hurt and I told him it didn’t.”

The Prince and The Duchess also spoke to seven-year-old cancer sufferer Abbie Steward, from Blyth, Northumberland, who has been receiving treatment at the hospital for six months.

At the end of the hospital visit, The Prince paid tribute to hospital staff.

He said: “I would like to pay a very small tribute to all the wonderful staff here in this hospital who I know carry such an enormous burden and yet deliver their services with such a remarkable dedication in an incredibly caring way.”

The Duchess was presented with a posy by five-year-old Rhiannon Wood, from Darlington, who is receiving treatment for cystic fibrosis.

The Prince and The Duchess then visited St James’ Park, the home of Newcastle United. They were there to see The Prince’s Trust Football initiative in action and to launch a new report from The Prince’s Trust about the long-term health problems that can be caused by youth unemployment.

After being greeted by Club Chairman Freddy Shepherd they met footballers and young people taking part in The Prince's Trust Football Initiative, which is run in partnership with the FA Premier League, PFA and Football Foundation.

More than 60 clubs take part in the programme, which offers disadvantaged youngsters behind-the-scenes tours, player appearances and motivational talks.

The Prince sat and chatted with former England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer and goalkeeper Shay Given, while The Duchess spoke to England striker Michael Owen and club captain Scott Parker.

They then walked through the tunnel onto the famous club pitch and met Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder and England head coach Steve McClaren.

The managers then presented the couple with a Newcastle United No 10 shirt each with letters “HRH” on the back.

Holding up the black and white shirt, The Duchess told reporters: “This could be my new career.”

The current holder of the shirt - injured striker Michael Owen – smiled and told Her Royal Highness: “You’ll be taking my place, that’s my number.”

The Prince then joined youngsters for a kick about on the St James’ Park turf with goalkeeper Steve Harper and club legend Peter Beardsley, who is now a youth coach.

The Prince then formally launched a new report for The Prince’s Trust, entitled Fit for the Future?

The report reveals that unemployed young people are more vulnerable to binge drinking, depression, poor diet, smoking and drug misuse, which affects their health and well-being throughout life.

The Prince said: “Having a reason to get up in the morning changes many lives for the better.

“Quite simply if young people are given a purpose in life and a target to achieve, to what may have seemed unachievable goals, then the resulting increase in self-esteem and motivation will have a massive improvement on health and well-being.

“So I only hope that by acting on the findings of Fit for the Future? We will create more opportunities for young people.”

Martina Milburn, Chief Executive of The Prince’s Trust, said: “More than one million people are not in education, work or training.

“By giving young people new skills and a reason to get up in the morning, we can help improve their health and reduce the financial burden on the health service.”

Afterwards, The Prince read a story to a classroom of eight and nine-year-olds when he and The Duchess visited Stocksfield Avenue Primary School in Fenham, Newcastle where the pupils received his rendition of the Rudyard Kipling story, How The Camel Got His Hump.

Year Four teacher Georgina Dunn said afterwards: “He did it wonderfully, the children were just captivated.

“He had wonderful poise and control, he showed them the pictures and he explained the difficult words to them.”

Their Royal Highnesses earlier listened to pupils’ revised versions of traditional stories, such as The Three Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood.

The school has taken part in the national StoryQuest project which is run by The Prince of Wales Arts and Kids Foundation.

It aims to fire children’s imagination and give them a love of hearing and telling stories.

The school, which is 50-years-old, also has a strong environmental theme and is encouraging the children to grow oak trees.  The Prince and The Duchess were given two acorns each to take away.

Their Royal Highnesses’s final engagement of the day was to take afternoon tea and cake with local people in Jarrow, South Tyneside.

They were guests of the TocH charity, which aims to promote community cohesion.

The nationwide charity’s “Tea and Cake” campaign is running from September through to November with the aim of bringing communities together through hospitality.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall joined people from the local TocH in Jarrow for a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

Tomorrow The Prince and The Duchess are undertaking a series of engagements across Northumberland, which includes visiting an organic farm in Bellingham and officially opening the renovation of a community building in Rothbury.

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