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TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and HRH Prince Harry show their support for children of the Commonwealth with UNICEF

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry today showed their support for children of the Commonwealth during a visit with UNICEF to the athlete’s village at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

UNICEF, the world's leading children's organisation, has been working in partnership with Glasgow 2014 and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to harness the immense power of sport to Put Children First, so far raising a total of £4.9million to save and change children’s lives.

During their visit today, accompanied by Chieftain of the athletes’ village and UNICEF UK Ambassador Sir Chris Hoy, Their Royal Highnesses were treated to a live performance of Let The Games Begin by East40 – Glasgow children’s 2014 anthem for UNICEF - performed by school children from the east end of Glasgow.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry then joined the children in playing three traditional games enjoyed by young people from different countries across the Commonwealth – Circle Sepak Takraw (Malaysia), Moral (Trinidad and Tobago) and Three Tins (South Africa).

Throughout the Glasgow 2014 Games, UNICEF has been leading sessions for athletes and the public to join in these traditional activities, drawing attention to the Put Children First appeal which aims to reach every child in Scotland and children in every Commonwealth country.

Giving the Caribbean game Moral a go, HRH the Duchess of Cambridge said: "This is much harder than it looks. That's a seriously good game."

HRH the Duke of Cambridge and HRH Prince Harry adopted a competitive edge. When Prince Harry scored 14 during the Asian game Circle Sepak Takraw, The Duke of Cambridge and Sir Chris Hoy set out to beat him, eventually scoring an impressive 15. "Yes! We did it, we won!" the Duke of Cambridge said.

East40 singer Jamie Leigh Smith, aged 16 and a pupil at St Mungo’s Academy, who spoke to  Their Royal Highnesses, said: “It was so exciting to sing our UNICEF song in front of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. They seemed to really enjoy it, and most importantly, it will mean more people understand that UNICEF is trying to help children across the Commonwealth, including here in Scotland. I hope more people will download the song because every time they do, 76p goes to UNICEF. ”

After the traditional Games, Their Royal Highnesses were introduced to the “Flying Scots” – five inspirational Glaswegians who featured in the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony, telling stories of UNICEF’s work with children in each region of the Commonwealth.

HRH Prince Imran, President, CGF, said:

“The support of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to the Commonwealth Games and to the associated UNICEF appeal is greatly appreciated by the teams and the athletes involved here in Glasgow.”

Lord Smith of Kelvin, Chairman of Glasgow 2014, said:

“Having the support of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will raise the profile of this partnership between the Commonwealth Games Federation, Glasgow 2014 and UNICEF which will in turn hopefully help raise even more awareness and more money for children in Scotland and around the Commonwealth. There has been an amazing response to the Put Children First moment at our Opening Ceremony and we believe that we have changed the way in which Opening Ceremonies will be for future events.”

UNICEF UK Executive Director David Bull said:

“We are delighted to welcome Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to join UNICEF in the athlete’s village today and are grateful to them for drawing attention to the life-saving work UNICEF is doing with children all across the Commonwealth.

”The one billion children of the Commonwealth span countries from Scotland to the Solomon Islands, yet they often face similar dangers - poverty, disease, exploitation and exclusion.

“Thanks to the huge generosity of everyone who has donated to the Put Children First appeal we have already raised a stunning £4.9million. But there are so many more children who are unable to survive, thrive and fulfil their potential.  The more that people can continue to support our work, the more children we can reach.”

The £4.9million so far raised from the partnership has come from more than 700,000 text messages from the public following the  the Opening Ceremony, totalling £3.5 million, plus more than £1.2million that was raised beforehand from other fundraising activities. The partnership continues right through the Games time and anyone wanting to support  UNICEF’s Put Children First appeal can text FIRST to 70333 to give £5 or visitwww.unicef2014appeal.com.

Notes to editors:

For more information from the UNICEF UK press office please contact:

Sarah Vincent sarahv@unicef.org.uk 07814 447935, Jess Ord jesso@unicef.org.uk 07779 090069 or the UNICEF UK media office press line on 020 7375 6030; or Glasgow 2014 PR Manager Kate McCheyne on kate.mccheyne@glasgow2014.com 030 2014 0176 / 07557 565 423

1. The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving 71 teams of athletes from the Commonwealth of  Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years. Glasgow 2014 will be the XX Commonwealth  Games and will be held from 23 July to 3 August. It will feature 17 sports in 11 days of competition with 261 medal events on  show. The Games will play host to 4500 athletes and sell 1,000,000 tickets with the event aided by an army of 15,000  volunteers. Glasgow 2014 Ltd is the official name for the Organising Committee tasked with delivering the Games in  partnership with the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Commonwealth Games Scotland.

2. Glasgow 2014’s official partner level sponsors are Longines, SSE, Virgin Media, BP, Emirates and Ford. For more  information  on Glasgow 2014’s full  sponsor family, please visit http://www.glasgow2014.com/games/our-sponsors

3. UNICEF, Glasgow 2014, and the Commonwealth Games Federation have joined together to Put Children First – saving and  changing children’s lives in Scotland and throughout the Commonwealth.  By supporting the Put Children First appeal you will  help the Games live on through the lives of children. The more people who can support this work, the more children we will be  able to reach. You can support UNICEF’s work by texting FIRST to 70333 to donate £5 or donating online at  unicef2014appeal.org.

4. UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children. Our global reach and influence is unique. UNICEF works for  children in more than 190 countries, including 53 countries in the Commonwealth. No other humanitarian organisation has  saved and changed the lives of so many children around the world. All of our work for children depends on voluntary  donations.

5. East40 consists of pupils aged between three and 17 from St Anne’s Primary and the nine schools in the St. Mungo’s  learning community in the east end of Glasgow.  The name comes from the postcode of the schools and the number of  members. Download Let the Games Begin from iTunes here www.tinyurl.com/East40 . Each £1.29 download means 76p goes  to UNICEF to save and change children’s lives across the Commonwealth.

Pupils and teachers worked on Let the Games Begin with Freddie Cowan (The Vaccines) Scott Hutchison (Frightened  Rabbit), Paul Thomson (Franz Ferdinand) who all feature on the single, and songwriter  Jonathan Carr, who composed  the song with the children.

The project was a way for Glasgow’s young people to celebrate the Commonwealth Games and create  both a musical  and sporting legacy for Scotland and Commonwealth countries.

6. The “Flying Scots” are six inspirational Glaswegians with extraordinary stories who featured in the Opening Ceremony,  both live, and in films made during the visit to see UNICEF’s work in each of the six regions of the Commonwealth.

Five of them were here today (one was unavailable). They were:

Play worker Michaela Munro travelled with international singing superstar Nicole Scherzinger to Guyana in  South America  to see how children with disabilities are being given a brighter future.

Leading open water swimmer Jane McCormick’s journey took her to one of the remotest places on earth  as she travelled  up river in Papua New Guinea to deliver life-saving vaccines with Line of Duty actress  Keeley Hawes.

Community sports leader David Duke joined former Radio 1 DJ and TV presenter Reggie Yates in Jamaica  see how sport  can engage children from poor rural backgrounds who often drop out of school and have  little formal PE in the school  curriculum.

Paediatric doctor Iain Horrocks found himself cycling through the bush in Malawi with UNICEF Ambassador  Sir Chris Hoy,  alongside a health worker who himself uses a bike to reach remote villages with life-saving  medical supplies.

Neonatal nurse Judith Barnett showed UNICEF Ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson around the neonatal ward in  the Southern  General Hospital where she works. In Scotland and the rest of the UK, UNICEF works with  health professionals to help  get newborn babies off to the best start through the globally recognized  Baby Friendly Initiative.

About the traditional games

Circle Sepak Takraw is a kicking game played by children throughout South East Asia, where players stand in a circle and have to use any part of the body to kick, knock, hit the ball to keep it up in the air.

Moral is a rolling, bouncing and clapping game traditionally played in schools and local communities in Trinidad and Tobago. Players aim to roll a ball into one of a set of boxes drawn on the ground starting with number one and proceeding in turn up to number eight. Once the ball is in a box, the player has to bounce the ball and clap their hands the same number of times as the number of the box.

Three tins is an aiming game that forms part of South Africa’s heritage. It involved piling three tins on top of each other and throwing a ball from a marked area to try and knock over the tins. If a player misses, the other players shout “Thayma” until the ball is returned. If they hit the tin, the player runs out, rebuilds the tins, and hops over them three times.

ABOUT UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do.  Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.  UNICEF UK raises funds for UNICEF’s emergency and development work and advocates for lasting change for children everywhere. We are a UK registered charity, supported entirely by voluntary donations. We do not receive any money from the UN. For more information, please visit unicef.org.uk

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