ormer footballer Paul Gascoigne gave the Prince of Wales a kiss on the cheek after they unexpectedly met in a sandwich store.

William visited the Pret A Manger in Bournemouth, Dorset, on Thursday, to debate its plans to broaden The Pret Foundation’s programme to assist 500 folks experiencing homelessness get jobs at Pret outlets across the nation.

The chain made the dedication as a part of its work with William’s Homewards initiative – the prince’s formidable five-year undertaking to finish homelessness in six places.

While within the store, William was joined by Gascoigne, higher often known as Gazza.

They spoke for a few minutes as a crowd gathered round them.

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The former England worldwide then shook William’s hand earlier than kissing him on the cheek.

After assembly the footballer, William stated it had been a “very interesting morning”.

“We even met Gazza, he popped into (Pret),” he stated.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is one in every of six flagship places the place the Homewards programme is happening, alongside Aberdeen, Sheffield, Newport, Lambeth and Northern Ireland.

The prince’s go to to the south coast follows the launch of his anti-homelessness programme in June, this time shining a lightweight on the position the enterprise sector can play in tackling tough sleeping

During his whistle-stop day tour of Bournemouth, William was joined by Diary of a CEO host and Dragon’s Den’s Steven Bartlett, as he met native and nationwide companies to listen to about their pledges.

Mr Bartlett, who's an advocate for the Homewards programme, stated it was “100% possible” to sort out homelessness in 5 years and stated William was “deeply passionate” concerning the trigger.

It’s been a really fascinating morning

He recalled that in a dialog with William concerning the undertaking the prince stated “some things just catch your heart and you feel you can move them forward”.

Mr Bartlett added: “It’s one of those things that’s caught his heart and it’s quite clearly possible. Sometimes you have to put a deadline on things to make sure they happen.”

The Homewards programme goals to indicate how society coming collectively could make homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated” and helps locally-led initiatives with as much as £500,000 of versatile funding.

The prince later visited AFC Bournemouth which is becoming a member of the programme by increasing its neighborhood outreach programme Bounce Back.

William spoke to gamers Lloyd Kelly and Katie Scadding at Vitality Stadium, Steve Cuss, the membership’s communities sports activities belief chief and chief govt Neill Blake to listen to about their piloted scheme which helps deprived adults acquire unbiased residing.

Mr Kelly additionally advised the prince concerning the significance of soccer in his personal life, and one thing he needed to look ahead to, having been in foster care as a baby.

AFC Bournemouth and the Pret Foundation had been amongst nationwide and native companies that joined William for a roundtable assembly about how companies may help sort out homelessness.

The Pret Foundation’s world head Nina Allard stated Pret’s pledge is “real commitment” to proceed its work because the charity has already recruited 750 folks by way of its Rising Stars programme since 2008.

Business bosses from Lush, Sunseekers, Dorset Chamber of Commerce, The Pret Foundation, AFC Bournemouth and Bournemouth and Poole College pledged to broaden quite a lot of initiatives together with neighborhood outreach, schooling and employment alternatives.