Duchess Kate encourages public awareness and support for children’s hospice services in her very first video message to the community.
The video was posted Sunday in honor of Britain’s fundraising week for groups that provide care to terminally ill children and their families.
The Duchess of Cambridge speaks about the “simply transformational” work she has witnessed by East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, one of eight charities she formally patronizes.
“Children’s hospices provide lifelines to families at a time of unimaginable pain. The support they give is vital,” the duchess says in the video, which was recorded inside Clarence House, the royal home she shares with her husband, Prince William.
“In order to carry out this wonderful work, our help is needed. With our support, those providing children’s palliative care can continue to offer these extraordinary services. It does not bear thinking about what these families would do without this.”
Children’s Hospice Week began April 26 and culminates May 3 with “Superhero Friday,” a day of hero-inspired fundraising, said Together for Short Lives, which runs the British effort and posted Kate's video message on its website. Barbara Gelb, the organization’s chief executive, said about 49,000 children require palliative care in the United Kingdom.
Duchess Kate became a patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and four other organizations last year.
Earlier this month, she announced the addition of three new charities to her agenda.