Prince William and Kate Middleton will host a reception to mark the UK-Africa Investment summit

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will travel to Bradford on Wednesday 15th January to visit a number of projects which support the community and promote cohesion within it, in one of the UK’s most diverse cities.

Marking their first engagement of the year, Prince William and Kate Middleton, both 37, will first visit City Hall in Bradford’s Centenary Square to join a group of young people from across the community to hear about life in Bradford. 

The Duke and Duchess will then meet representatives from local employers and businesses who are helping young people into employment. 

Before departing Centenary Square, they will have the opportunity to meet members of the public gathered outside City Hall.

Their second engagement of the year will take place on Monday 30 January, where the royal couple will host a reception to mark the UK-Africa Investment summit at Buckingham Palace. Pictured, the Duke of Cambridge lends a hand to rangers lifting the head of Kenya bull elephant “Matt” on March 24, 2016 in Lewa, Kenya

The royals will host the reception at Buckingham Palace (pictured) on behalf of Her Majesty, 93

The Duke and Duchess will then visit one of Bradford’s Khidmat Centres, whose main focus is to help the most vulnerable members of the community from minority ethnic backgrounds. 

On arrival, the royal couple will hear about the activities and workshops offered at the centre, and the organisations that they support.

They will then join a session involving groups supported by Better Start Bradford, which delivers over 20 projects to pregnant women and families with children under the age of 4. 

Their Royal Highnesses will meet families from the ‘Older Yet Wiser’ project, a unique and innovative workshop series for grandparents who have child-caring responsibilities for their grandchildren. 

Participants in the workshop are given tools to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren whilst receiving up-to-date information on raising children in the 21st century. 

The Duchess’ longstanding work on the early years has highlighted the importance of supporting children and families during this seminal period of their lives, and the importance of all members of society in raising children.

Prince William speaks during The Tusk Conservation Awards ceremony in London on November 21, 2019. The annual Tusk Conservation Awards celebrate the achievements of people who work protecting Africa’s wildlife and natural heritage

William and Harry meet a cheetah during a visit to the Mokoloda Nature Reserve in Gabarone, Botswana in 2010. William revealed this week he ‘fell in love’ with Africa during the trip

Finally, they will attend a workshop run by Near Neighbours, an organisation which brings people together in communities across the UK that are religiously and ethnically diverse, so that they can get to know each other better, build relationships of trust, and collaborate together on initiatives that improve the local community that they live in.

And for their second engagement of the year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will host a reception to mark the UK-Africa Investment summit at Buckingham Palace on Monday 20 January, on behalf of the Queen, 93, Kensington Palace has announced. 

It will bring together Heads of State and Government and senior representatives from African countries, key multilateral agencies and high profile UK and African businesses. 

The Summit will demonstrate the strength of the relationship between the UK and Africa, and showcase and promote the breadth and quality of investment opportunities across Africa.

It will also highlight the UK’s commitment to supporting economic development in Africa, including through the creation of jobs and new partnerships.

In November, Prince William attended the annual Tusk Conservation Awards, which celebrate the achievements of extraordinary people, whose work protecting Africa’s natural heritage might otherwise go unnoticed outside their fields.

The Duke of Cambridge presented three awards at the event and delivered a short speech.

He said: ‘Earlier today, Catherine and I spent some time with the nominees and finalists. Their bravery, single-minded determination, and commitment to African conservation is deeply deeply humbling.’

The father-of-three used his speech closing the event to praise the ‘hugely important’ work of the nominees before calling for action on climate change and other environmental threats.