The Prince of Wales Visits Cambridge

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The Prince of Wales, President of the Prince's Trust, talks with well wishers as he leaves after his visit to Cheryl's Trust Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne. November, 2021.

THE PRINCE OF WALES VISITS CAMBRIDGE 

Tuesday 23rd November 2021 

Engagement 1

The Prince of Wales will visit Cambridge Market and visit a selection of stalls and meet market traders. 

The Prince of Wales will be met by the Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Mrs Julie Spence, the bells of Great St Mary’s Church will ring on His Royal Highness’ arrival. 

The Prince will pass by the Cambridge Satchel Shop and meet staff outside. His Royal Highness will then be greeted by a local school choir singing carols under a Christmas Tree. 

The Prince will visit Peter Graves Florists (one of three florists on the market) and meet the Graves family who have been trading since 1958. 

His Royal Highness will then visit Alister & Garon Books, a second-hand book stall, a family run fruit and veg stall, a stall selling a selection of Nigerian specialities and J Reynolds Sweets, who have been trading since 1820. 

Cambridge Market 

John I, King of England granted a charter to the citizens of Cambridge in 1201, which provided the freedom to hold fairs and a market. Market Hill (now known as the market square) is the location of the main market in central Cambridge. This area has operated as a marketplace since Saxon times. 

Today, the market square supports an outdoor market of 99 fixed stalls and around 140 licensed traders. It is open seven days a week, 362 days a year and is managed by Cambridge City Council. The council’s historic base, the Guildhall, overlooks the square. 

Council support for the market during the pandemic 

The council has supported market traders throughout the pandemic, providing rental holidays, discounted pitch rates and business support grants – a total financial package of c£1.2million. 

The market has been able to remain open throughout the pandemic and only had to close for around a two-week period on public safety grounds in January 2021. To support Covid-19 safety on the market, the council has worked with the county council’s public health team to provide management measures including relocating high queue generating stalls to perimeter stalls, erecting temporary barriers to support safe queue management and employing safety marshals to support businesses and customers to comply with the measures. 

Market square project 

The council has embarked on a multi-million-pound project to transform the market square into a fully pedestrianized, multi-functional civic space, which is accessible to all, celebrates its rich heritage interest and continues to support a vibrant, successful and diverse seven day a week outdoor market. Proposals include an improved stall layout and demountable design, allowing the space to be used for other events and activities, both during the day (in and around the market) and into the evening. The council is working closely with market traders and other key stakeholders to develop the project and has just completed a major public consultation on a proposed vision and concept design for the square. 

Engagement 2

The Prince of Wales will visit Homerton College, University of Cambridge, to discuss access to education and learn of the College’s vision to welcome and support students from diverse backgrounds.

The Prince of Wales will be received by Deputy Lord Lieutenant Mrs Karen Daber who will introduce His Royal Highness to Lord Woolley, Principal of Homerton College. 

Lord Woolley will then present Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Professor Stephen J. Toope. 

After a private meeting with Lord Woolley, His Royal Highness will meet representatives of the Isaac Newton Trust. The Trust was founded in 1988 by Trinity College to promote learning, research and education in the University of Cambridge, by providing support to early-career researchers and to departments and programmes within the University. 

His Royal Highness will then proceed to meet College Officers at Queen’s Wing Arch before joining a briefing and discussion in the Griffin Bar on ’Get In Cambridge’ and other initiatives to support diversity in admissions and to support ethnic minority students during their time at Cambridge. 

In the Combination Room, His Royal Highness will meet supporters and student ambassadors of Homerton’s unique co-curricular Changemakers Programme – the College’s pioneering programme to equip students with the intellectual force, energy and edge to become ambassadors for social change. 

His Royal Highness will conclude the visit in the Marquee where he will join a reception with the staff, students, donors, the welfare team, and academic Fellows, to learn about the College’s approach to student and staff wellbeing, in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teach First of which His Royal Highness is Patron will be in attendance. 

The Prince will sign the visitors’ book and unveil a plaque to mark the occasion. 

Homerton College 

Lord Woolley of Woodford took up his role as Principal of Homerton College last month, becoming the first Black man to lead a College at Cambridge or Oxford. A race equalities campaigner and the founder of Operation Black Vote, Lord Woolley has previously collaborated with The Prince’s Trust on addressing disadvantage among minority ethnic groups. 

Homerton is Cambridge’s largest College by student numbers. Formerly a renowned teacher training college, it became a full College of the University of Cambridge in 2010, and now offers the full range of subjects studied at the University. The College has a strong track record of attracting students from ethnically and socially diverse backgrounds, and is proud of its reputation for diversity and friendliness. 

The Prince of Wales and Cambridge 

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall last visited Cambridge in 2016. Their Royal Highnesses visited sights including the Fitzwilliam Museum and King’s College Chapel. 

The Prince of Wales became Royal Founding Patron of The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership in 2008 and has been President of the Cambridge University Polo Club since 1975. 

Engagement 3

The Prince of Wales will visit AstraZenaca to officially open their new global Research and Development facility at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

On arrival, His Royal Highness will be met by AstraZeneca CEO, Pascal Soriot, Chairman, Leif Johansson and Executive Vice-President of Biopharmaceuticals R&D, Sir Mene Pangalos. 

The Prince will be given an introduction to Astrazeneca, led by Sir Mene Pangalos, which will include a brief video from the landing digital display. His Royal Highness will then be given a walking tour of the Bioscience Lab which will include a demonstration of Hololens technology. 

The Prince will proceed to G node exhibition space and be presented to scientists to learn about the role of Functional Genomics and the role of genes in disease. His Royal Highness will also learn how using cell therapy can halt and reverse disease in heart failure and cancer. 

His Royal Highness will also be given a description of how the building has been designed, followed by a meeting with scientist Richard Marshall CBE to discuss the development of the COVID-19 vaccine and long-acting antibody. The Prince will then be invited to say a few words and unveil a plaque to mark the official opening of the R&D Centre. 

AstraZeneca’s R&D centre 

AZ’s new Cambridge R&D Centre is a state-of-the-art facility enabling the delivery of science-led strategy, turning science into medicine. 

The centre, which sits at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, is designed to play a central role in AZ’s mission to deliver life-changing medicines to patients. As its largest research and development centre in the UK, it will have more than 2,000 people working across therapy areas and drug discovery and development once fully occupied. It is uniquely designed to strengthen collaboration, promote openness, and improve the sustainability of every aspect of AZ’s science and business operations. 

AstraZeneca 

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical business which innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. AZ focus on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines in Oncology and BioPharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. 

AZ is committed to operating in a way that recognises the interconnection between business growth, the needs of society and the limitations of our planet with sustainability sitting at the heart of AZ’s strategic priorities, supporting continued scientific innovation and commercial success. 

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