The Earl of Wessex today visited the Scottish capital on what has been a busy few days. The visit included reopening Fet-Lor Youth Club, Sport Scotland’s centre in Inverclyde and the Centrestage Music Theatre in Kilmarnock.
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The first stop was the new Fet-Lor Youth Club in north Edinburgh, a youth club for some of the most deprived young people in the area. Prince Edward officially opened the new state of the art building for the club and met a number of Duke of Edinburgh award winners who regularly visit the club.
As @DofE Awards Trustee, The Earl of Wessex has opened the new building at Fetlor Youth Club & met a number of award participants. pic.twitter.com/EB1uOcE3Tv
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 28, 2017
Edward will take over the award when his father passes away, and then becomes The Duke of Edinburgh himself after the accession of his brother Charles.
The Earl then headed west, to the Sport Scotland-funded National Sports Training Centre in Largs, Inverclyde. This is the first royal visit to the newly opened sports centre, which has specialised equipment to support both able-bodied and para-athletes from across Scotland.
Edward met numerous athletes who frequent the centre, including award-winning wheelchair athletes, young judo competitors, and gymnasts, all hoping to make it to the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
We welcomed HRH Earl of Wessex to the centre today to have his first tour of the new facility. He met lots of different athletes en route. pic.twitter.com/6jJmmi1i8s
— Inverclyde NSTC (@InverclydeNSTC) June 28, 2017
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Children had made a selection of artwork depicting Edward, Sophie, Louise and James!
Thank you to Cromarty Primary School for your lovely portraits celebrating HRH’s visit! pic.twitter.com/YW2fd35sCZ
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 28, 2017
Prince Edward then visited the Centrestage Music Theatre in Kilmarnock, a theatre and performing arts centre that aims to bring together people from across local society.
The Earl made a surprise appearance on stage during a rehearsal of a play, standing in the background as actors and singers sang.
Well who would have thought….Prince Edward on stage at Centrestage! @CentrestageMTpic.twitter.com/MxZG0qxiVO
— Fiona Nicolson (@FionaNicolson4) June 28, 2017
Also at the royal visit was the ‘Gie it Laldy’ dementia singing group – just one of the many community groups run at Centrestage Kilmarnock.