HRH Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh visited two Harrow youth organisations in his role as London's Youth patron.
The Duke of Edinburgh has been London's Youth patron since 1948 and is visiting 50 youth clubs in the capital since his first visit 60 years ago.
During his visit to Ignite Trust and Cedars Youth and Community Centre last Wednesday (June 29), Prince Philip heard and saw the impact that high quality youth work can have on young people’s development.
At Ignite, young people were cooking a meal for everyone in the kitchen, playing sports in the hall, and hanging out in the lounge while at Cedars the Duke saw groups of young people playing football, badminton and planning a social action project.
Both London Youth member clubs have achieved the Gold level of the London Youth Quality Mark, a quality assurance scheme accredited by City & Guilds, which Ignite earned last year while Cedars were presented with their gold plaque to coincide with a visit from HRH Prince Philip.
One of the young people who has benefited from attending her local youth club is Nima Roble, 19, said: "I’ve been going to my local youth club for just over a year now.
"Before I started going, I was the type of person who was in the library and just going home to study, it’s important but it doesn’t prepare you for the outside world.
!I like my youth club because all the staff are friendly and welcomed me with open arms - I’ve got to try new things that I have never done before like acting, singing and even rock climbing and raft building.
"If it wasn’t for my youth club I wouldn’t have made the good friends that I’ve made or the tried new things and discovered what I enjoy, I wish I had known about my youth club sooner and would definitely encourage other young people to get involved with one near them."
