The Duchess of Cambridge, patron of Place2Be and Anna Freud Centre, marked the beginning of Children’s Mental Health Week with a visit to PACT (Parents and Children Together) in Southwark, London. Children’s Mental Health Week was first launched in 2015 to shine a spotlight on the importance of children’s and young people’s mental health. Once again to keep the crowd away due to the pandemic the engagement was embargoed. The Duchess visited the center to learn more about how communities can support parents and their families with their mental well-being and improve the health and development outcomes for young children.
The Children’s Mental Health Week is being celebrated from February 07th to 13th and this year’s theme is ‘Growing Together’. This year children and adults are being encouraged to consider how they have grown emotionally and to recognize how challenges and setbacks can help them mature and adapt. From Place2Be, “Growing Together is about growing emotionally and finding ways to help each other grow. Challenges and setbacks can help us to grow and adapt and trying new things can help us to move beyond our comfort zone into a new realm of possibility and potential. However, emotional growth is often a gradual process that happens over time, and sometimes we might feel a bit ‘stuck’. 1 in 6 children and young people have a diagnosable mental health problem and many more struggle with challenges from bullying to bereavement. Whether you’re someone who works with children, a parent or carer, passionate about spreading the word, or keen to raise vital funds for Place2Be, you can help us reach as many people as possible. “
The Duchess will be marking the end of the week, with a narration of the modern children’s classic, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, by Jill Tomlinson, that will be broadcast on the BBC’s channel for young children, CBeebies. Wearing a comfy Holland and Cooper Fairisle Knit sweater, Catherine sat down by the fire to record a bedtime story at Kensington Palace last month. The Duchess chose the book because it chimed with this year’s theme of “growing together”.
What better way to mark #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek than with a CBeebies Bedtime Story.
Tune in 6.50pm, Sunday 13 February on CBeebies and CBBC to hear The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by @JillMTomlinson pic.twitter.com/TbKZyOrawH
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) February 8, 2022
Patricia Hidalgo, director of BBC Children’s and Education, said: “I couldn’t be more proud to have the duchess read a CBeebies Bedtime Story as we mark the 20th anniversary of our CBeebies and CBBC channels. It’s such a special and relevant tale and perfectly represents this years’ Children’s Mental Health week theme. I can’t wait to see her deliver her own take on such a classic story and I’m sure our audience can’t either.” The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, illustrated by Paul Howard, tells the story of Plop, a baby barn owl, who is helped by others to grow in confidence and overcome his fears.
Set up by Citizens UK in 2014, PACT is a community-led social support project which aims to build a confident, resilient community of parents who can give their children the best start in life whatever their circumstances. It was initiated in Southwark after parents, community, and faith leaders identified mental health issues and isolation as the biggest challenges impacting their ability to parent and give their children the best start in life. The project has since expanded to Leeds and Newcastle.
During today’s visit to the Center, The Duchess met volunteers and attendees of PACT Southwark’s weekly MumSpace group, which provides a welcoming space for local parents to discuss relevant issues and work through any challenges they are facing. MumSpace is one of many activities run by the organization to reach parents who might not otherwise have access to support. Then she joined parents and children in a food prep session – a MumSpace playgroup cooking workshop and made fruit kebabs.
Catherine also met a health visitor who regularly attends the group to provide advice and signposting to other services, before joining a cooking workshop with parents and children. By creating local support networks and providing reliable connections for families, PACT helps to combat isolation, support parental mental health and engage a number of hard-to-reach communities to access health and social services. The project works on a parent-led approach which involves listening to parents’ needs and working on solutions together, empowering them to make change within their own communities.
About the visit, Kensington Palace said, ” Through her work over the past decade the Duchess has seen first-hand how some of today’s hardest social challenges have their roots in the earliest years of a person’s life. The Duchess has long been committed to raising awareness of the importance of early childhood experiences and of collaborative action in order to improve outcomes across society.”
Later this month, The Duchess of Cambridge will be undertaking a solo visit to Denmark on 22-23. It would a be working visit to Copenhagen for the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood that The Duchess founded last year. During the visit, The Duchess will be meeting The Danish Queen Margrethe II and Crown Princess Mary on February 23rd and then will visit a women shelter with Mary.
Just like Britain, Denmark is also celebrating two milestone events this year. Queen Margrethe II just completed her 50 years on the throne and Crown Princess Mary just turned 50 this month.
For the visit, The Duchess debuted a beautifully tailored Catherine Walker single-breasted blazer that features a fitted silhouette, Prince of Wales check, notch lapels, flap pockets, a center-back vent, and four buttons on the cuffs. Thanks to Chrissy for the id.
Underneath the blazer, Catherine wore a Boden clothing Cashmere Crew Neck Jumper. A fab found by Bojana on Twitter. The jumper is available in all sizes and various shades.
The Duchess paired the top with her L.K.Bennett Frieda Crepe Trousers. Thanks to Bojana on Twitter for the id. The trouser is currently available in all sizes for £75.
She topped the outfit with her black Anderson Crockskin belt.
The Duchess was wearing her Annoushka Baroque Pearl Drops with Kiki McDonough Gold Hoops and
her Astley Clarke Round Stilla Lapis Lazuli Pendant Necklace.
She once again chose her comfy Gianvito Rossi Piper 85 suede pumps.
Catherine was also wearing her Amaia Kids adult Reusable cotton Blue Emma & Georgina face mask.
In other news, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II marked her Platinum Jubilee this Sunday. On the eve of the historical Milestone, The Queen issued a letter to the nation and commonwealth in which she thanked the public for the love and support, remembered her parents and her husband. The key element of the letter was her wish for the public to accept The Duchess of Cornwall as The Queen Consort when the time comes.
Buckingham Palace announced three big Royal events – On March 02, The Queen will be hosting annual diplomatic reception. The last reception was hosted in 2019 and since then due to the pandemic, the white tie event was canceled in 2020 and 2021.
On March 14, The annual Commonwealth Day Service will be hosted at the Westminster Abbey.
March 29: The Thanksgiving Service for Prince Philip’s life will be held at the @wabbey. The Queen will be attending and I am going to assume the whole Royal Family will be in attendance too to pay the tribute to the much loved Iron Duke who left the world in April 2021. pic.twitter.com/KX6VEQHjur
— RegalFille (@RegalFille) February 7, 2022
On March 29, The Thanksgiving Service for Prince Philip’s life will be held at the Westminster Abbey.
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