Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has heard stories from volunteers and families about the work of Home-Start on a visit to Brookhill Children’s Centre in Woolwich on Wednesday 18 March.
The Duchess used her visit to talk with other parents of young children, and to learn about the challenges they can face and how Home-Start is supporting them.
As well as seeing the work of the children’s centre, which is managed by Home-Start Greenwich, The Duchess of Cambridge was told about Home-Start’s 15,000 volunteers who are supporting 32,000 families across the country in their own homes.
After a private meeting with two families who told The Duchess about the difficulties they have had to overcome and the difference Home-Start had made to their lives, Her Royal Highness went on to a coffee morning. There she chatted with parents about the stresses on them and their children when life gets hard, coping with post natal illness and how parents can support each other through group work. Volunteers described their work with families at home.
Rob Parkinson, chief executive of Home-Start UK showed The Duchess around the centre throughout her visit and said, “It was a great honour to be able to show The Duchess our work. The Duchess really wanted to hear about the challenges that parents of other young children can face and she was very engaged with all of the families and the issues that they talked about.
“The work that The Duchess saw here today in in Greenwich represents the incredible work that is done by 288 local Home-Starts up and down the country. The Duchess has heard first-hand from families whose lives have been turned around with the support of Home-Start, and that show just how important our work is.”
