Catherine, the Princess of Wales, marked the beginning of the Christmas season of the Royal Early Childhood Centre with a visit to Sebby’s corner to get essential goods and basic necessities to families with young children by supporting baby bank across the UK. The visit was part of Catherine’s Shaping Us project – a campaign to highlight the importance of Early Years.
About the visit, The Royal Centre for Early Childhood said, “A third of people cite financial challenges as the biggest issue facing parents and carers in 2023 according to The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood latest issues index. More than one in four families where the youngest child is under five years of age are living in poverty in the UK and one million children are facing destitution. Families are having to make impossible choices between paying the bills, buying food or turning the heating on. “
Sebby’s Corner is a baby bank based in North of London that has has supported more than 5,000 families since it opened in January 2021. Kate was received by Sebby’s Corner founder Bianca Sakol and Emma Parker, the operations manager.
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“The Princess joined a conversation with representatives from Baby Banks from across the UK to discuss the increasing demand on their services. There are more than 200 baby banks around the country, all of which are currently seeing rising demand for their services” – The Royal Centre for Early Childhood
Kate helped the team restock the Sebby’s Corner Christmas pop-up shop. This unique shop allows parents to choose gifts for their children but at no cost so they can experience Christmas and receive gifts that they otherwise might not. We are expecting to give out over 4,000 new gifts to families in need in the coming weeks.
“The work going on here is so essential… you are such a lifeline in so many ways, but you’re also hidden. We need to be able to normalize this and make this more visible“. The Princess of Wales during a visit Sebby’s Corner
During the visit, Princess Kate met with the volunteers and staff members and the families that were helped by the baby bank. They were also joined by the representatives from the Baby Bank Alliance. ‘Shaping Us’ Ambassador, Ms. Giovanna Fletcher, with whom Kate did her first podcast two years ago was also present for the visit.
As part of her personal Christmas donation, Catherine donated some fifty copies of The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark. During the visit, Kate mentioned that she loved that book and enjoyed reading it with her three children. If you remember, As part of Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week in 2022, Catherine read the book as a CBeebies Bedtime Story.
What The Princess of Wales wore to visit Sebby’s Corner
- Sportmax ‘Ezor’ Coat – (New – Thanks to Middleton Maven for the id)
- UFO Black Ribbed Jumper
- Really Wild Flippy Suede Skirt in Nutmeg – (New- Thanks to Kate’s RepliKate for the id)
- Polo Ralph Lauren Crocodile-Stamped Leather Belt – (Repeat – November 202)
- Missoma Rhodochrosite Gold Mini Pyramid Charm Hoops – (Repeat – debuted in September 2020)
- Gianvito Rossi Glen Boots – (Repeat – in November 2022 )
