Focus
The Princes' Charities Forum
1st November 2009
The Princes’ Charities Forum is an initiative started by Prince William and Prince Harry in April 2006.
The Princes wanted to find a way of bringing together their charitable interests, and to explore how they could best lend support to them all in an effective and efficient way.
Prince William and Prince Harry, who have an office based at St James's Palace, believed that if they could find ways in which the Charities worked together, this would help to maximise their output – in keeping with the theory that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.
The first Forum in 2006 included only The Princes’ earlier Patronages; Centrepoint, The Football Association, Tusk Trust, and Sentebale.
Now, three years later, it consists of approximately 20 organisations, who have joined the Forum as The Princes charitable activities have expanded.
Prince William’s Patronages now include, among others, the English Schools’ Swimming Association, Mountain Rescue England and Wales, the Royal Marsden Hospital, the Child Bereavement Charity and Skill Force.
Prince Harry’s portfolio of Patronages has also grown to include not only Sentebale, which he founded, but Dolen Cymru, MapAction, WellChild and Khumbu Challenge 2009. The Henry Van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, which is The Princes’ first joint Patronage, is also included.
Representatives from the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force attend the Forum, as well as Comic Relief and HSBC. These organisations are able to offer not only counsel, but also resource to the various Charities who sit around the table, be it in the form of meeting rooms, raffle prizes or manpower at events.
Forum meetings are held biannually and provide an opportunity for the Charities to update The Princes on their recent events and ventures, and to talk about their strategic objectives.
The Forum has evolved into a means of collaborative activity between the participating Charities and organisations. Opportunities to support each other are explored at meetings, relationships are developed and bilateral work is initiated.
For example, in July 2009, Prince William visited the Lake District to join an expedition up Helvellyn, one of the tallest mountains in the country. The expedition was organised by Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW) to benefit young people from the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint.
Later in the day Prince William met with sick children and their families, supported by Prince Harry's charity WellChild, on a steamer organised by MREW to give them an enjoyable day out. Watch the video below: