Prince Harry To Visit Leeds
Thursday 6th July – Friday 7th July, 2017
Prince Harry will visit the city of Leeds, Yorkshire between Thursday 6th and Friday 7th July. Over the two days His Royal Highness will meet local organisations, companies and charities which work in various ways to support the surrounding Leeds community.
Prince Harry will begin his visit to Leeds at the Leeds Leads: Encouraging Happy Young Minds event, a charity fair and panel discussion addressing the mental wellbeing of the city’s young people. Hosted by the Leeds Community Foundation (LCF), the event will bring together a range of mental health projects which have been funded through LCF’s latest initiative – the Leeds Fund – to celebrate the important work they are delivering across the city. Prince Harry will visit the charities’ stalls to learn more about their work with young people and mental health, before introducing the panel discussion on stage to the audience of local business and community leaders.
His Royal Highness will then travel to Headingley Carnegie Stadium to attend the Sky Try Rugby League Festival, which is part of a seven-year programme designed to get more than 700,000 children from primary and secondary schools across the country playing rugby league. The festival will see eight and nine year olds from seven local primary schools in Leeds take part in seven-a-side touch rugby league games, coached by current England players and local coaches from the Leeds Rhinos Foundation. Prince Harry will hear more about the Sky Try programme’s delivery, before meeting children, coaches and players on the pitch. This will be His Royal Highness’s first engagement as the new Patron of the Rugby Football League.
On Friday 7th July, Prince Harry will undertake two visits in support of WellChild, a charity that works with children suffering from serious illnesses or life-altering conditions, and of which His Royal Highness is Patron. Prince Harry will firstly visit the family home of a five year old boy in Leeds, who will receive a garden makeover from WellChild’s Helping Hands programme. This will be the charity’s 300th project, and will see a group of volunteers transform the little boy’s garden into an outside space that he can finally access safely and enjoy with his siblings, allowing him to develop his physical skills and encourage independence. Prince Harry will visit the project as it begins to take shape, meeting the young boy, his family and the Helping Hands volunteers.
His Royal Highness will then travel to Leeds Children’s Hospital, where he will meet WellChild Nurse Helen Tooby. WellChild nurses such as Helen provide the specialist care and support required to help families get their children home from hospital quicker. Helen will be the main point of contact for all children with a tracheostomy and their families, helping them to learn to care for their child and gain the confidence they need to support them at home. Prince Harry will also meet a group of the children and families who have been helped by Helen on their journey from hospital to home.
His Royal Highness will conclude his visit to Leeds with a visit to HARIBO’s new facility in Castleford. Prince Harry will see how the brand’s much-loved sweets are made, and will meet members of the family-owned business, its newest recruits and individuals that have been helping to create HARIBO treats for over 27 years. The factory has become a leading employer locally, with more than 730 team members across its two manufacturing sites.
