HRH Prince William Praises the Bambisanani Partnership
St. Mary’s Menston students Kavi Appuhamy and Chloe Tindale last week met HRH Prince William at a Diana Award ‘Inspire Day’ in South Shields
Group photo taken to commemorate Diana Award 'Inspire Day'. Kavi, Chloe and HRH Prince William are all on the back row
The Sixth Form students were invited to the 22 November 2013 event because of the Bambisanani Partnership, the school’s pioneering work in South Africa using sport to promote education, health, leadership and global citizenship which is now in its seventh year.
Kavi and Chloe were part of the St. Mary’s team of students to visit South Africa this summer where they were responsible for mentoring Zulu students in leadership.
The Diana Award Inspire Day brought together inspirational young people from around the country to share their experiences with others and to meet Prince William.
““Prince William even joined in some of the team building activities. It was really strange to be standing next to Prince William, however it showed that he was not afraid to get stuck in and that he had an obvious community spirit. Overall, I loved the whole day in South Shields. I learnt so much in such a short time, have made contact with some amazing people and really have the drive and desire to work hard in continuing project work in the future. I am very grateful to the Diana Award for including me in such a great opportunistic day and hope their work will continue to be recognised by the Royal family as a great charity.””
““Tessy Ojo, Chief Executive of the Diana Award, introduced Prince William to our group and he began to speak to some of us about the individual projects that were being run. I wasn’t expecting to speak to him because I thought he would have moved on but the Prince reached out to shake my hand and we began talking! At first I was slightly star struck to see the man that is always on the TV, in front of my eyes speaking to me, the future King of England. I described the work of the Bambisanani Partnership, especially the development of leadership skills through sport and forming young leaders in Mnyakanya High School, which the Prince seemed genuinely interested in as he asked me further about how St. Mary’s came to establish such a link with a South Africa school. I spoke about how our teacher Mr Geldart was the founder of the project and that we aim to increase the extent of the work of the project and awareness about the issues we are tackling. HRH Prince William praised the work of the project and was impressed by what the two schools have achieved as a partnership. Speaking to Prince William and attending the Diana Award event, I can truly say that I have been inspired and empowered to strive to do more for the development of the Bambisanani Partnership which has received huge admiration. All in all, I had a wonderful day with memories that will last a lifetime.”
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Chloe and Prince William stood together at one point during the parachute game. Chloe: "It was really strange to be standing next to Prince William whilst playing a party game."
Kavi spoke to Prince William for 5 minutes
““We know that these young people carry this award set up in memory of Princess Diana with pride and they were absolutely thrilled to meet The Duke of Cambridge. At the Diana Award, we believe in encouraging young people and having The Duke at the event, was the ultimate encouragement.”
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Video: Prince William joins in Parachute game [DAILY TELEGRAPH]
'Really special' Prince William pays tribute to Diana Award charity [DAILY EXPRESS]
Menston school students meet Prince William [BRADFORD TELEGRAPH AND ARGUS]
Photos: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge visits Haven Point [GETTY IMAGES]
The Duke of Cambridge pays tribute to last charity in his mother’s name [DIANA AWARD]
Praise for St. Mary’s from Prince William and more achievement in sport [MENSTONVILLAGEWHARFEDALE.COM]
Leeds Students Celebrate at the Diana Awards [INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS LEEDS]
Prince William Praises St. Mary’s work in South Africa [BRPHARMACEUTICALS.CO.UK]
