Prince William Returns to Dartmoor Youth Club After Quiet Promise Helps Keep Its Doors Open

Prince William speaks with teens at the Princetown Youth Club during a visit to Dartmoor on Sept. 15, 2026.Credit : 

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Prince William returned to a small youth club on Dartmoor on Sept. 15 and immediately noticed one important difference from his previous visit: there was no longer a hole in the roof.

Months earlier, the Prince of Wales had quietly visited Princetown Youth Club and discovered a building struggling with a leaking roof. Rather than leaving the problem behind when he departed, William asked the Duchy of Cornwall to investigate how it could support the club and reportedly made a simple promise that its chair, Emma Byrom, still remembers.

“It’s not closing on my watch,” William said, according to Byrom.

When he walked back through the doors this week, the roof had been repaired and the club was still operating.

William Returns to See What Changed

Prince William speaks to local schoolchildren during a visit to Princetown in Dartmoor to launch the new Princetown Community Fund on Sept. 15, 2026.

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William, 44, visited Princetown as part of a wider day focused on the future of the isolated Dartmoor community.

At the youth club, he watched teenagers taking part in a drama workshop and spoke with them about life in the village. But he also wanted an update on the repairs that had followed his earlier private visit.

Looking around the improved building, William joked about how different it felt without the damaged roof.

“Is it better [that] there is no hole in the roof?” he asked, adding that it had been “a bit draughty” the last time he was there.

The teenagers told him they enjoyed spending time at the club and taking part in its sporting activities.

For Byrom, however, keeping the building open has meant considerably more than simply fixing a roof.

Princetown is geographically isolated, she explained, and children living there do not always have access to the opportunities available to young people in larger nearby communities such as Plymouth.

The Duchy funding, she said, had helped ensure the club could continue operating.

“Our priority was just to keep the building open,” Byrom said.

A Small Repair Becomes Part of a Much Bigger Investment

Prince William speaks with teens at the Princetown Youth Club during a visit to Princetown in Dartmoor on Sept. 15, 2026.

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William’s return to the youth club came on the same day he formally launched the Princetown Community Fund, giving the repaired building a wider significance.

The new initiative will make at least £250,000 available for community-led projects intended to produce social, economic and environmental benefits across Princetown and the surrounding Dartmoor area.

Eligible organizations will be able to apply for grants ranging from £500 to £40,000, while additional assistance will be offered to local groups and businesses developing ideas and preparing applications.

The fund is one of the first major projects created from a broader £1.5 million commitment to Princetown and Dartmoor announced earlier this year.

That money has an unusual connection to one of the area’s most prominent landmarks: HMP Dartmoor.

The prison has stood empty since July 2024 after elevated levels of naturally occurring radon were detected in prisoner accommodation. The Duchy of Cornwall receives annual rent connected to the site, but William decided that the income should no longer simply be retained by the Duchy and should instead be reinvested in Princetown and the wider Dartmoor community.

Alongside community grants, the wider commitment is expected to support environmental recovery, employment, innovation and improvements across the area.

Local Residents Will Help Decide What Comes Next

Prince William meets an alpaca during a visit to Princetown in Dartmoor to launch the new Princetown Community Fund on Sept. 15, 2026.

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Rather than deciding centrally how all of the money should be spent, the new fund has been shaped by conversations with people living and working in Princetown.

The Duchy says earlier community engagement through the Princetown Place Strategy and the Encounters Shop initiative helped residents identify what they believe the village needs most. Those priorities will continue to influence future investment decisions.

Emma Magee of the Duchy of Cornwall said the aim is to give residents both funding and practical assistance to turn local ideas into projects, while keeping the community involved in decisions over where investment is directed.

The youth club offers an early example of what that investment can look like on a much smaller scale.

William had seen a practical problem during a private visit, asked the Duchy to look into supporting improvements, and returned to find the leaking roof replaced and the facility still serving local young people.

William Meets Princetown Residents — and Two Alpacas

The Prince’s visit extended beyond the youth club.

William began his day at Gather & Moor, a new community, visitor and cultural hub established in Princetown. He met people involved in developing plans for the village and spoke with residents, local business owners and schoolchildren.

He also encountered two considerably furrier residents: alpacas named Treacle and Noodle.

The animals belong to Gari and Karen Mann, who operate the local Hooves and Moor alpaca trekking business.

William stroked the alpacas and asked how they had coped with the unusually hot British summer beneath their thick coats. After hearing that they had managed well, he remarked that they appeared very well cared for before drawing laughs with another question: whether the alpacas were allowed inside the house.

A Promise William Could See for Himself

The launch of a multimillion-pound commitment and a £250,000 community fund represented the larger purpose of William’s day in Dartmoor.

But at Princetown Youth Club, the impact was considerably easier to see.

There had been a hole in the roof when William first visited. He had told those running the club that it would not close on his watch.

When he returned, teenagers were still gathering inside, a drama workshop was underway—and the hole he remembered was gone.