A speech by Prince Harry at a dinner for The American Friends of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, New York

Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening.

I would like to pay tribute to John Studzinski, our President, and his fellow American Friends Directors, and the Benefit Committee for all they do to support”¬”ª The Royal Foundation and its philanthropy.

Thank you, from William, Catherine and me. You are such an important part of our Foundation family. Almost a year ago on the day before the London Olympics The Royal Foundation launched Coach Core. This flagship initiative seeks to mentor and train our next generation of truly inspirational young sports coaches.

The aim is that they, themselves, will then become mentors and role models to their peers and further generations over the years ahead.

We now have pilot schemes running in London and Glasgow in Scotland and I am delighted to announce that funds raised this evening will support a similar programme to be run in partnership with Harlem RBI here in New York, and potentially others like it.

It is exciting that Harlem RBI’s Project Coach and our Coach Core will be linked in this way, sharing experience and lessons learned to provide opportunity and inspiration to disadvantaged young people here and back home in Britain.

I visited the project in Harlem this afternoon, and met many of these young people whose lives are being changed through the power of sport. As they learn and grow under the careful guidance of Harlem RBI, they represent living proof of what can be achieved. It was truly uplifting.

So, sport and coaching really does change lives. Who better to tell you this than the young coaches themselves? I am privileged to welcome to the stage Terell Jordan, one of our Foundation’s first Coach Core’s apprentice coaches from the UK, and Robert Saltares, who is already making a real difference to young people’s lives in Harlem.