FIRST, it was the jungles of Belize with the Welsh Guards, then the reefs of
Rodrigues with the Royal Geographical Society and now the mountains of
Patagonia with Raleigh International.
No one is going to accuse Prince William of taking
things easy during his gap year. While his Etonian
contemporaries are backpacking through India or
sitting on an Australian beach, the second in line to
the throne will now be tracking rare breeds of
Chilean deer and working on road improvements for remote communities.
It was back in 1984 that the Prince of Wales teamed up with Col John
Blashford-Snell, the British explorer, to launch a programme which would
encourage young people to explore far-flung corners of the world while
helping others at the same time. Marina Ogilvy, the Prince's cousin, was one
of the early volunteers. Now, 16 years later, the Prince's son is to be one of
the beneficiaries.
Like all Raleigh International candidates, the Prince's first task was to raise the
funds for his trip. Whatever their backgrounds, all volunteers must show that
they have generated their own financial support. Prince William's solution was
to organise a fund-raising water-polo match and to get sponsorship from
friends.
The average target is £3,200 and so, having gone well beyond that by raising
£5,500, Prince William will put his surplus into a trust to help a disadvantaged
young person from Newcastle upon Tyne to join the trip. The Prince of Wales
also told his son that he would match whatever he raised and has donated a
further £5,500 to the trust.
Every expedition includes a number of young people from what are described
as "at risk" situations - homeless, unemployed or young offenders - who are
supported by several charities. The Prince's Trust, for example, is supporting
four volunteers on this expedition.
A total of 110 volunteers will be taking part in the 10-week journey which will
involve three principal components - an environmental project, a community
project and an adventure project.
Raleigh International has been in Chile for 12 years, working out of a base in
the southern town of Coyhique, and this will be its 29th expedition there.
Volunteers will be divided into groups of a dozen and will set off under the
supervision of a group leader, a person with specialist skills - an engineer or
ecologist - plus a medical officer.
Despite the heavy strain on Anglo-Chilean relations throughout the protracted
Pinochet affair, a Raleigh International spokesman said the organisation had
not been affected by the protracted period during which the former Chilean
leader was held under arrest in Britain. The spokesman said yesterday: "We
have a lot of Chilean staff. We are completely non-political and we have many
nationalities on our expeditions. There really hasn't been a problem."
While his choice of Chile may go a long way to mending diplomatic fences
between London and Santiago, Prince William's fellow volunteers will include
people from Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United
Arab Emirates.
It is not known what the next phase of Prince William's gap year will be. He
said:"The plans aren't sorted. I'm hugely disorganised." Bringing a little military
precision to arrangements will be Mark Dyer, the former Guards officer and
temporary equerry to the Prince of Wales who is helping William make the
most of his year off before studies resume at St Andrews next year.
~*~
Dad chipped in for gap-year trip(Evening Standard)
by John Sturgis
Prince William told today how he organised sponsorship
to raise £5,500 towards a gap-year Expedition Raleigh
trip to South America - enabling a deprived youngster to
accompany him.
Asked if his father had contributed, William replied: "He
might have chipped in," at which point Prince Charles
joked: "I chip in all the bloody time." His son laughed.
The young Prince, dressed in well-worn jeans, trainers and
a camel-coloured sweater over a blue shirt, appeared
through an apple grove flanked by (and somewhat
towering over) the Prince of Wales, more formal in a
double-breasted suit and tie.
The pair posed obligingly, leaning against a stone wall and
looking as relaxed as the circumstances - standing less
than 10 yards from at least 40 constantly flashing cameras
- would allow.
Patrick Jephson aside, the planned purpose of today's
photo-opportunity was to announce plans for the next
stage of William's gap year before he takes up a place at
St Andrews University to study history of art this time next
year.
William said of the Raleigh trip to Patagonia in southern
Chile: "I thought it would be a way of helping people out,
meeting a whole range of different people in a different
country, helping people in a remote area of Chile. I spoke
to a couple of friends who said they thought it a good idea,
and I thought so too.
"The trip lasts about 10 weeks. I'm not sure of the exact
details but I think there is an environmental project, a
community project and at the end an adventure project."
On funding, William said: "I raised most of the money
myself. I organised a water-polo match and got sponsors
that way. I think it raised about five and a half thousand
pounds, which is also paying for a disadvantaged person
to come with me. He is a young person from a youth
development programme in Newcastle and I'm hoping to
meet him soon."
The expedition will take William to some of the most
remote parts of Patagonia, where he and 110 other
youngsters will help with home improvements and build
walkways between settlements. Another project will
involve carrying out surveys to help map the area and
researching a rare species of deer.
The adventure element of the trip may include a trek
above the snow line and will certainly contain physical as
well as mental challenges.
Twenty-seven of the young people on the expedition,
including William's companion from Newcastle, come
from Raleigh's At Risk Programme, which encourages the
socially excluded to broaden their horizons. Participants
are referred by the Probation Service, homeless hostels,
job centres and other youth agencies.
William added: "I hope to enjoy my gap year. I've
certainly enjoyed it so far. I'm probably going to miss my
family quite a bit - well, a lot - but once I'm over there I'll
get quite committed, dig in and make the most of it.
"I think there is a computer there so I will be able to e-mail
them from time to time. After I get back from Chile my
plans are not solid - I'm hugely disorganised."
William also discussed his time so far since leaving Eton,
including trips to Belize and an island off Mauritius in the
Indian Ocean. "I was with the Welsh Guards on an
expedition in the jungle, just spending some time with them
and seeing what they do. The camp was in the middle of
nowhere and getting my A-level results was difficult but
my housemaster managed to get a message to me and he
said it was good news. I was glad with what I got.
"Then I was in Rodrigues, about 500km south-east of
Mauritius, on a marine conservation programme, seeing
how they tried to protect the reefs and manage the seas,
going out with the locals fishing and trying to stop them
dynamiting for fish."
William was rather more flattering about the media than he
had been about Mr Jephson: "The media have been very
good. I was anxious about how things would turn out but it
really has been brilliant - it made a difference at Eton that I
wasn't having my picture taken every time I walked
around and I hope that the same will continue for Harry."
~*~
William's wish(Electronic Telegraph)
EARLIER this week, Patrick Jephson insisted that
there was nothing in his book about his time as Private
Secretary to Diana, Princess of Wales that would
upset her two sons. He said: "For them there will be
nothing new to learn from this that's harmful - and a lot
of new stuff that's good."
John Witherow, editor of Rupert Murdoch's Sunday
Times, whose circulation increased by 108,000 when
the paper began serialising the book last weekend, was
similarly anxious to stress his concern for the Princes.
He said: "Patrick was very conscious of not upsetting
the Princess's children. I can understand why the
Palace are worried, but they have nothing to fear."
Now both men know that the book has indeed upset
the Princes. Prince William himself said so yesterday,
when he accused Mr Jephson of exploiting his mother
and betraying her trust. The only question remaining is
whether Mr Jephson's book serves a public interest that
justifies his upsetting them and betraying his trust as a
Private Secretary.
On the evidence so far, the answer to that is "No". The
book serves no interests but the bank balances of Mr
Jephson and Mr Murdoch.
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