Prince Harry has tried his hand at fishing as he visited an angling organisation set up to help educate young people through the sport.
He laughed and joked with one young member of the Wigan-based Cast North West charity who told him he was being drafted in to help catch carp for the weigh-in.
After being handed a net, Harry said it would be, “awkward” if he did not catch anything, before laughing as he scooped out a tiny fish.
Declaring that he ought to “quit while he was ahead”, the royal guest had more success with his second catch.
The visit to the North West is part of the Prince’s tour promoting sport as a means for social development.
Cast North West was founded in 2006 by Neil Farnworth and aims to help enhance the employability and educational opportunities of disadvantaged young people who are at risk of falling out of education, training or employment – many of whom have faced severe personal challenges.
The organisation, backed by Sported – one of the leading sport development charities in the UK – also boasts the UK’s first indoor angling centre where Harry chatted with the young people it caters for.
Meanwhile at the gates of the centre, around two dozen women had gathered to sing Can’t Take My Eyes Off You after seeing the Prince pull up in a navy blue Range Rover.
As they serenaded him, Harry looked a little embarrassed but took time to meet his fans and their young children.
During his visit, he was also asked to plant a tree as a tribute to the lives lost in the Battle of the Somme.
Dressed in a khaki shirt, black jeans and desert boots, he joked that he did not realise manual labour was going to be involved and that he should have brought his gloves.
Admiring his handiwork, he said: “Just promise me you are not going to dig it up and replant it – that’s what normally happens.”
The Cast North West site, which has expanded to include a fisheries and agriculture social enterprise, also has educational facilities where young people can gain qualifications and work experience.
It has also linked up with the on-site nurseries and members grow flowers to be sold to the public.
Harry said his father, the Prince of Wales, would “absolutely love it” at the centre and the team would “not be able to drag him out”.
Mr Farnworth, who previously sat on the local restorative justice referral panel for youth offenders, said it had been an honour to host the day.
He said he set up the organisation after finding there was nowhere for young people to fish.
Mr Farnworth added: “He is so relaxed and he makes everyone around him so relaxed. Everyone just opened up. He said he was going to tell his dad about it.”
