Today, The Duchess of Cambridge and The Royal Foundation hosted a symposium on early intervention, to provide social and emotional support for children in their early years at the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
The Royal Foundation organized the symposium on Catherine’s behalf, inviting leading academics and charities that are championing the importance of early intervention to make children healthier and more resilient later in life, thus avoiding serious problems which often emerge only in adolescence or in adult years.
The focus of the symposium is a cause close to Duchess’ heart. Recently during the Royal Forum Duchess has spoken about her passion and indicated to continue focusing on mental health and early years.
Ahead of the engagement Kensington Palace said: “Stemming originally from her interests in issues such as addiction and the effects of family breakdown, and her visits to charities and support organizations, Her Royal Highness has been struck time and time again by how so many of society’s greatest social and health challenges often stem from problems that start to manifest themselves in the earliest years of life.“
Palace also remarked, “The symposium draws these strands together enabling the gathered experts to explore the potential for an integrated strategy on early intervention”. The Royal Foundation and Heads Together are working together on the mental health cause.
Hosted by the Royal Foundation and chaired by President of the Royal Society for Medicine and Regius Professor of Psychiatry at King’s College London, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, The Symposium brought together academics, researchers, practitioners, educators, and charities to explore issues such as perinatal, maternal and infant mental health; parenting support and advice; and resources for schools and educators.
The aim of the Royal Foundation is to establish a steering group to explore how best to support academics, practitioners and charities. The steering group will report back to the Duchess later this year and it is expected that the Royal Foundation’s strategy for collaborative action on these issues will be announced in late autumn 2018 / early 2019.
During his speech, Professor Neil Humphrey spoke about Mentally Healthy Schools said, “50% of lifetime mental health issues begin before the age of 14 and that children from deprived areas are 4.5 times more likely to develop a mental health issue“.
Mentally Healthy Schools were officially opened by Duchess in January this year during a visit to Roe Green School. Mentally Healthy Schools’ is a free and easy-to-use website for schools, drawing together reliable and practical resources to improve awareness, knowledge, and confidence in promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health.
Speaking at the Symposium today, The Duchess of Cambridge discussed her ambition to support efforts to give every child the best possible start in life. Catherine announced her plans to create a long-term collaboration between experts and organizations to raise awareness of perinatal, maternal, and infant mental health, as well as the need to support parents, families, and teachers. The Duchess of Cambridge said, “I really feel so passionately about the importance of early intervention… providing children in their earliest years with social and emotional security builds strong foundations which last a lifetime“.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s speech today was exemplary as it showed the research Catherine has done on the topic and how passionate she is about mental health issues.
Moving towards today’s sartorial details almost 9 months pregnant Catherine looked radiant in a vibrant Mint green bespoke Jenny Packham number.
She was wearing a mint green coat and a matching dress. The coat features a bow detailing at the collar. The color was suitable to welcome the spring.
The Duchess of Cambridge paired the outfit with her trusty praline Gianvito Rossi 85 pumps. As many of you must have noticed this pair is similar to her other Rossi pumps but with lower heels.
She carried her Loeffler Randall ‘Tab’ clutch. Handcrafted from lizard-effect leather in a soft blush hue the bag is described as “Perfect for day or night, this design opens to a surprisingly spacious twill-lined interior complete with a zipped pocket for smaller items.” It’s available in several colors at ShopBop.
Kiki McDonough’s green amethyst and diamond cushion cut earrings finished today’s glowing look.
We will see The Duchess with Duke of Cambridge tomorrow when they will meet athletes supported by SportsAid, some of whom aim to compete in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and help to prepare a Commonwealth Big Lunch at St Luke’s Trust
