Prince Harry meets joins youngsters for handball in London

Prince Harry meets joins youngsters for handball in London



Prince Harry showed off his fancy footwork on Friday morning as he joined in a game of handball during an activity session in east London.

Proving he's a natural with children, the royal could be seen laughing and joking with youngsters as he chased them around the pitched and even helped serve up lunch.

The royal was visiting a summer holiday project geared towards keeping children active, fed and occupied during the break from school.

Harry, 32, travelled to east London to learn about the Fit and Fed campaign, providing children and young people from the London Borough of Newham with access to free activity sessions and lunches throughout their summer holidays.



Launched this month, Fit and Fed is a response to the pressing issues of holiday hunger, isolation, and inactivity that many children across the UK experience during the school break.

Dressed in smart attire, Harry spent time chatting and posing for selfies with youngsters. According to onlookers, at one point he comforted a tearful boy whose team let in a goal during a game of handball - before picking him up and swinging him around.



Later, he helped hand out lunch to children and volunteers at the food station, including sandwiches and fajita wraps, before posing for a group photo with staff.

According to Kensington Palace, the volunteers have been trained in food preparation by Cracking Food, who provide support to Fit and Fed projects across the UK.

During lunch, a local resident was wheeled up to Prince Harry out of the blue. Harry was told she really wanted to meet him - and he dashed around to greet her warmly.

Harry's cheerful mood may be down to the fact that his girlfriend Meghan Markle is believed to be in town ahead of her 36th birthday next week.



Throughout the summer, leisure trust active Newham plans to deliver 41 sessions in Central Park, with around 60 local children attending each day.

Fit and Fed, which brings together community organisations from the StreetGames, Ambition and Sported networks, will operate in 100 disadvantaged neighbourhoods across the country this summer, and in 2017 aims to help 12,000 children and young people.

Research has shown 60 per cent of families with an annual income of £25,000 cannot always afford food during the holidays, and families on less than £15,000 report a constant struggle.



In the London borough’s Central Park Harry chatted to coaches leading the sessions, run by the leisure trust activeNewham together with Fight for Peace, which is encouraging five to 14-year-olds to take part in a range of activities from football and tennis to rounders and cricket.

Harry also met Fit and Fed volunteers as they serve the lunches and later chatted to children and young people to learn first-hand about their experiences of the project.

On Friday, the Red Cross released photos of a private visit Harry made to volunteers helping in the relief effort in the wake of the Grenfell fire disaster.

Dressed in a smart blue suit, he could be seen chatting to workers helping to sort through the large number of donations made to the victims of the tower block inferno at a Royal Mail site in Greenford, north-west London.