Today the colourful Duchess of Cambridge visited Peterley Manor Farm where she joined families and children supported by the Family Action taking part in Christmas activities.
Ahead of the visit, Catherine, today becomes Royal Patron of Family Action. Her Majesty the Queen has passed the patronage to The Duchess having held the role for over 65 years. Her Majesty took the patronage over from Queen Mary in 1953.
Established in 1869, Family Action helps families in difficulty by giving them practical help and support. The charity works with over 45,000 families through over 140 community-based services. Thousands more are supported with financial assistance through education and welfare grants programmes.
Today, Family Action continues to tackle difficult issues facing families – including financial hardship, mental health and emotional wellbeing, social isolation, parenting challenges, domestic abuse, and substance misuse. Family Action celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019.
Family Action works directly with vulnerable or disadvantaged children and families through both local and national services and support professionals and organisations through training and consultancy provision. These issues can have a huge impact on the stability of family life as well as on the health and wellbeing of all family members.
Today’s visit marked the new patronage. With this now Catherine is the patron of 19 charities and Organisations. During the visit to Buckinghamshire, The Duchess of Cambridge joined children from Peterborough Pre-Schools chose trees.
It was The Duchess’ second visit to the Family Action. Earlier this year, She visited the Family Action’s Lewisham base in January 2019 where she launched the charity’s national support line, FamilyLine. It looks like the handling of the patronage was in pipeline for a time.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also visited the charity’s ‘Family Monsters Garden’ at the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2019. The Family Monsters Project, which encourages families to talk about the pressures they are facing to highlight that these ‘family monsters’ are normal and can be overcome.
About new patronage, the Palace said, “The Duchess of Cambridge has spent much of the last eight years meeting charities and organisations who work every day to make our families and communities stronger. There is a powerful correlation between a parent or carer’s wellbeing and their child’s development, which is why organisations such as Family Action that provide support are instrumental to a child’s future. This new patronage aligns with Her Royal Highness’ longstanding work in the early years, and the importance of supporting children and families during this seminal period of their lives.”
Chief Executive of Family Action David Holmes CBE, who is a member of The Duchess’ Early Years steering group, said,
“Family Action is honoured that The Duchess of Cambridge has become our Royal Patron. Her Royal Highness follows on from Her Majesty the Queen, who was our Royal Patron for more than 65 years. Everyone at Family Action would like to extend our thanks to Her Majesty for her steadfast support and encouragement to us over so many years.
I have seen The Duchess’s passionate support for disadvantaged families first hand and have been impressed by her leadership in understanding and promoting the vital importance of the Early Years. Family Action looks forward to working with The Duchess in the years to come.”
Mary Fulton, the Chair of Trustees at Family Action, said, “
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and everyone at Family Action, I am delighted to announce that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge will become Royal Patron of Family Action in our 150th Anniversary year. The Duchess will assume the Royal Patronage of the charity from Her Majesty The Queen who has held the role for 66 years, having assumed the role in turn from Queen Mary in 1953.
We would like to extend our most sincere thanks to Her Majesty for her steadfast and dedicated support for the work of the Charity over so many years.
We are honoured that The Duchess has chosen to support Family Action’s work by becoming our Royal Patron. Her keen interest, particularly in the Early Years, fits well with Family Action’s provision of high quality perinatal mental health services, pre-schools and Children’s Centres across the country.”
Catherine was in completely mother mode and Christmas mood. Joined by an eager group of children, she helped children pick up their favourite Christmas tree.
She carried the trees for kids. Simon Perry reported that Peterley Manor Farm owner Roger Brill joked “I will have to give her job at the weekend”.
They spend time in Elves’ Enchanted Forest where The Duchess joined children taking part in Christmas activities, including making decorations and eco-friendly reindeer food.
Reindeer food in making. It was full of celebration engagement and we were in for a few tidbits about cute Cambridge kids. Roya Nikkah reported that Catherine told George loves thistles. The family has a Nordmann Fir non-drop Christmas tree at Anmer Hall. She also said Louis “wants to go everywhere” with her.
After finishing their letters to Father Christmas, The Duchess helped post them to the North Pole! pic.twitter.com/qHXtKmLJO6
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) December 4, 2019
After the letters to Father Christmas were written, The Duchess helped post them to the North Pole.
During the visit, The Duchess of Cambridge also met with families and parents. Talking about the pressures at this time of year “Maybe instead of posting on social media about who has the bigger presents, tell people about the real meaning of Christmas instead.”
Now to what The Duchess of Cambridge wore – for the festive engagements with kids Catherine was dressed in Christmas colours –Red, Green and Blue.
She brought back her Perfect Moment Mini Duvet quilted down ski jacket that we first saw in February 2017 at London Marathon event.
Underneath the jacket, Duchess of Cambridge wore Really Wild Long Crew Neck Jumper in Emerald. Thanks to Pop Golightly for the id.
The $211.17 Crew Neck Jumper in Emerald green tone features ribbed detailing at the base and cuffs. It’s crafted from wool spun in Scotland.
A closer look at the ribbed detailing. Currently, the sweater is available in all sizes at Crofton and Hall.
She was wearing her Berghaus Supalite Gortex boots with forest green boot socks.
The Duchess of Cambridge finished her look with simple gold hoops that she first wore during a visit to the Scouts’ headquarters at Gilwell Park in March 2019.
In other news, on a very rare occasion, Catherine’s Mother Carole Middleton made an appearance on her family business Party Pieces’ Instagram page. The picture was posted with a caption saying, “Working next door to a Christmas tree farm means we had the pick of the best Xmas trees!”
Next, we will see The Duchess on December 11 at the annual Diplomatic Reception.
