Prince William: It’s very important to talk to sheep

The Prince of Wales told children it is important to talk to sheep as he toured a city farm that supports young people with mental health challenges.

The Prince also revealed that he used to lie down next to his horse and take comfort from its deep breathing.

And he admitted that he always gets lumbered with cleaning up after his family’s guinea pigs because his children forget to do it.

The Prince shared the insights into his love for animals during a series of engagements in Birmingham focused on mental health.

At St Michael’s Church of England High School, in Rowley Regis, he surprised 12-year-old pupil Freddie Hadley, who wrote to him last year inviting him to support his mental health campaign, #AmIManlyEnough?

“So this is the young lad who started it all off,” the Prince said as they were introduced. “Very nice to see you, thank you for your letter.”

Freddie admitted that he was “shocked” when he saw the Prince get out of the car. “It was crazy,” he said. “It means that he has recognised what we are doing.”

The Prince told one member of staff:  “Lots of people write letters but Freddie’s was a really well-written letter. I promised I would come.

“I am sorry Catherine can’t be here as well. She would have loved to.”

Prince told Charlotte’s favourite ‘dad joke’

During the visit, the Prince was asked to tell a “dad joke” for the school’s radio show and decided to recount Princess Charlotte’s current favourite “knock knock” joke about an interrupting cow, which he said he heard “a lot at the moment at home”.

The Prince then dropped in at Woodgate Valley Urban Farm, just outside the city, which is dedicated to supporting children and young people struggling to access education and those experiencing mental health challenges.

As he met some of the children who use the facility, he chatted about his love of animals, revealing that he has guinea pigs at home as well as chickens, which like to eat dried fruit.

The Prince told one boy that he used to enjoy lying next to his horse, taking comfort from its deep breathing. And he said he thought it was “very important” to talk to the sheep and other animals, asking them how they are feeling.

The comment was evocative of his father’s revelation that he talks to plants. “Very important to talk to them, they respond,” the King, then Prince Charles, said in 1986.

The Prince was met on arrival by Sue Hawkeswood, the project manager, whose idea it was to create the farm to help children with additional needs.

He described the farm as “a wonderful little tranquil space” and said there were “so many places in the country that could do this”.

The Prince sat down with Esme Zarifeh, 10, and her mother, Gemma, to stroke and groom two guinea pigs called Chris and Snowflake.

He said he found that stroking animals gave people a chance to “calm down and breathe.” “These guys are pretty cool,” he told Esme. “We’ve got guinea pigs at home and they’re not like this.

“I spend my life cleaning out the guinea pig cage because the children forget to do it. Then they run off, because you have to handle them all the time, that’s why (these ones) are so calm.

“The ones we’ve got at home, they’re off. You have to keep them constantly stroked and looked after.”

Next, the royal visitor was shown into the sheep enclosure, bending down to stroke one of them as he chatted to Mrs Hawkeswood’s son, Alfie.

“I can see why you love it here,” he told him. “You might have to be a farmer one day, I think. I bet there are not many of your friends who can get this close to sheep.”

Farm visits transform young visitors

The Prince told Alfie that he thought it was “very important” to talk to sheep and ask them how they are feeling.

Mrs Hawkeswood said some of the children who visit the farm had been unable to access education and had such poor mental health that they were self-harming or refused to leave their homes.

“They’ve come to us and completely changed, gone away, happy, smiling, with a sense of purpose and looking forward to the session every week,” she said.

“That’s really what we do. It’s nothing new. It could be done in every city. It’s a small piece of land with a few animals, nature, and we’re just facilitating conversations about animals really and introducing care.

“We need to consider this now for children because we’re failing a generation really, by not putting in these interventions.”

The Prince’s final stop was Anchor Point in Aston, a £9 million centre run by Christian charity Betel UK, which aims to give people training and skills as they overcome addiction and homelessness.

Former addicts can retrain by working in a beauty salon, taking part in theatre classes and working in a café that is open to the public.

In the beauty salon, the Prince met Nathan Wright, 37, a recovering alcoholic from Luton who had volunteered as a model for a trainee who was learning waxing.

Mr Wright told him: “You don’t realise how much hair you’ve got up your nose,” to which the Prince winced as he replied: “Makes your eyes water.”