The Royal Visit
On 19 September 2023, The Princess of Wales came to see the new space for Streets of Growth, which has been provided by Unite Students, at their flagship accommodation building in east London. This new space is enabling the charity to reach even more young people and means the charity can now set about trying to secure longer term funding that aligns with their clients’ need for intensive longer-term support.
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The Princess spoke to Darren, his team and several young people who are at serious risk of exploitation, violence, crime, and isolation. She was particularly interested in how their mental health was affected by their circumstances.
Darren said of the Princess: “It gave a real boost to the staff and our young clients to see that the Princess was genuinely affected by what she heard, and you could see she was very interested. She really understood that you have to know people’s backstory. She appreciated the link between her work in early years development and how adverse effects can be felt in the lives of teenagers and young adults later.”
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The Princess spoke to some mothers and daughters who had been coached and supported by the charity. She was shown some of the creative workshops and enterprises that families engaged with and set up, which had helped to increase their confidence and enhance family relationships.
The Princess
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“A pleasure to visit Streets of Growth in East London, a game-changing charity which supports young people to transform their lives in the face of adversity. Their work is inspired by the fantastic approach of Roca Inc in Boston.” Her Royal Highness also explained, “The problem is that so many young people don’t have access to services like this. We need to scale it up.”
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Her team wrote of behalf of Kate. “It was great to meet some of the young people and communities, and those working with them, to see how they are flourishing under the charity’s programmes.” Within one hour, the post had accrued over 16,000 likes from royal fans and went viral within twenty- four hours.