News
The Duchess visits Birmingham and Coventry
10th December 2009
The Duchess of Cornwall undertook a series of pre-Christmas engagements in the Midlands today, visiting a centre for the homeless and helping primary school children to decorate their Advent calendar.
Her Royal Highness, who is Patron of Emmaus UK, chatted with people living at the homeless charity's community in Coventry before helping them put the finishing touches to a Christmas tree.
The Duchess then visited one of the largest specialist children’s libraries in Europe based in Birmingham, before attending a charitable performance of the ballet Romany Wood at Elmhurst School for Dance.
During her visit to Coventry, The Duchess was shown around the gardens at Emmaus and visited an area of ground which has been cleared for allotments.
Emmaus, which has 19 projects around the UK, offers homeless people accommodation, work and the chance to rebuild their lives in a supportive environment.
Speaking after The Duchess had chatted over tea with 15 previously homeless and unemployed people at the centre, Vicki Urch, who manages the centre, said: "It was wonderful to have a visit from The Duchess of Cornwall.
"All of us here at the community had a chance to talk to her and she helped to decorate our tree.
"She was very interested in the work we do and talked warmly and at some length with the residents. She really gave us a lift at a time of year which is not always easy for people who have been homeless."
Emmaus' residents work full-time at the business of each community, collecting, refurbishing and selling donated furniture and household goods with the aim of being financially self-sufficient.
The Emmaus community in Binley, Coventry, is located in a former vicarage, where residents take it in turns to work in their shop, cook in the community building and look after the allotment.
One resident at the centre said: "It's a great place to be living - it's wonderful to get an opportunity to do so many different jobs - it's made all the difference to me."
Later, The Duchess visited the Centre for the Child, one of the largest specialist children’s libraries in Europe, based in Birmingham's Central Library.
Her Royal Highness attended a story-telling session around an Advent calendar wall and read a poem, The Snowman, for children from Nelson Primary School in Ladywood.
She also joined in a lively ‘Shake Rattle and Rhyme’ session for under fives. The session involves music-making and rhyme-learning to give parents ideas for sharing stories and rhymes with their children at home.
The Duchess met tutors and students from the Virtual College, which is a Pupil Referral Unit funded by Birmingham City Council, providing an alternative provision to mainstream education for 14 to 16-year-olds and the Birmingham Young Poet Laureate, India Miller, read a poem which she had written especially for the occasion.
For her last engagement of the day, The Duchess attended a charitable performance of Romany Wood at Elmhurst School for Dance, of which she is Patron.
The performance raised funds for the school’s physiotherapy fund and the National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) of which The Duchess is President.
It involved most of the school’s 200 students and featured television presenter Alan Titchmarsh as the narrator.
The Duchess then attended a reception for supporters.