Kate Middleton.Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images
For their first joint outing in the new year,Kate MiddletonandPrince Williamare shining a light on an important children’s cause.
The couple headed to theFoundling Museum, which tells the story of the 18th-century Foundling Hospital — the U.K.’s first children’s charity. It was initially set up in 1739 as a care home for children at risk of abandonment. Kate is now patron of the museum.
Soon after arriving at the museum in central London, the couple joined a roundtable discussion with experts from across the sector to speak about the wider landscape of foster care in the U.K., the challenges that young people leaving care can face — such as employment, housing, mental health and addiction — and the work underway to tackle these issues.
Princess Kate has made early childhood development a keystone of her royal work. Noting that many of today’s hardest social challenges have their roots in the formative childhood years, she has focused on collaborative action to help improve outcomes for kids as they move into adulthood.
Prince William.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
During the outing,Kate and Williamjoined the group in a bonding exercise, which had them drawing images on the floor. At one point Kate jokingly asked William, “Is that me?” William replied with a laugh, “Yes, that’s you.”
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Prince William and Kate Middleton at the Foundling Museum.Alastair Grant - WPA Pool/Getty Images
One of the main activities in the museum is to use the work of artists, writers and musicians to develop learning programs, especially for marginalized and vulnerable young people. This aligns with Kate’s interest in art therapy that is used across some of the mental health charities and organizations that she supports in her wider public work.
Prince William and Kate Middleton.Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images
source: people.com
