The Prince of Wales, President of The Prince's Foundation for Building Community, is to open the Ideal Home Show on Friday, March 16th, 2012, and make a special tour of The Prince's Arts and Crafts House at Earls Court, London, it was announced today.

The Prince, who visited the show last year, will formally open the 17 day show, which is now in its 104th year and attracts over 270.000 visitors since being bought by top event's organisers Media 10 in 2009. As part of his visit, the Prince will also visit the charity stand of the ABF The Soldiers' Charity and meet TV food expert Gregg Wallace.

The Prince's Foundation for the Building Community has established a five year partnership with the Ideal Home Show aimed at lifting the awareness and showcasing the value of sustainable design, which has been championed by the Prince of Wales.

Hank Dittmar, Chief Executive of The Prince's Foundation for Building Community said: "The Prince's Arts and Crafts House is a revolutionary, low energy eco-home designed by The Prince's Foundation for Building Community and built with a focus on high quality materials and craftsmanship, the house will be exhibited at the Ideal Home Show 2012. 

"The Prince of Wales, President of The Prince's Foundation for Building Community, took a keen interest in the design and will be viewing the House during his visit to the Show. At the end of the 2012 Ideal Home Shows, The Prince's Arts and Crafts House will be relocated to a UK community where it will become someone's home.

"The Prince's Foundation for Building Community believes that sustainably planned, built and maintained communities improve the quality of life of everyone who's part of them. The Prince's Foundation is empowering people to want better places to live in and helping them to achieve it."

Lee Newton Managing Director of Media 10 commented: "We are delighted to welcome back HRH The Prince of Wales to this year's show for the second year. The Ideal Home Show is Britain's favourite home event and has traditionally held a strong link with the Royal Family, so we are proud to be able to maintain the show's heritage again, for 2012.'

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Notes to Editors: 

The Ideal Home Show will also be supporting the The Soldiers' Charity for the third year, raising money for the 'Ideal Homes for Heroes' campaign which help soldiers, former soldiers and their families remain in their own homes after sustaining injuries in service by providing vital home adaptations.

To date the Ideal Home Show has raised a fantastic £230,000 for the Ideal homes for Heroes Appeal, helping over 152 individuals, families and soldiers of the 29 RLC and the residents of Royal Wimbledon Homes. To meet the growing need, they aim to raise £1million by the end of 2014.

Ideal Home Show

The Ideal Home Show, the UK's biggest and longest running consumer event, was acquired by award-winning events and publishing company Media 10 in 2009 from DMG World Media, the first time the show has changed hands in just over 100 years.

The 2011 Ideal Home Show was a landmark event, attracting over 270,000 visitors across the 17-day event and including a Royal Visit from HRH The Prince of Wales.

Follow the Ideal Home Show on Twitter http://twitter.com/ideal_home_show

The Princes Foundation for the Built Community

The Prince's Foundation for the Built Community is an educational charity founded by The Prince of Wales and operating to a model of practice-based learning. The Princes Foundation engages in live projects at the scale of the region, the city, the neighbourhood, the town, in order to develop new ways of regenerating and building more lively and more environmentally sustainable communities.

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For more details or enquiries about the event, please contact Alexandra Davison at Stuart Higgins Communications on 0207 096 5814 or email alex@stuart-higgins.com