The Duchess Debuts a New Brand as She Helps Plant Children’s Hospice Garden

The Duchess helped plant a garden at The Nook Hospice last Thursday as part of Children’s Hospice Week.

The Nook is part of EACH (East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices). Kate’s history with EACH goes back to 2012; it was one of her four initial patronages. 

Emily Andrews of The Daily Mail tweeted a video of the Duchess arriving at The Nook. 

Sonny Pope-Saunders, six, gave Kate a wristband with ‘Sonny’s Smiles’ – in Feb he was a normal, active boy but within days was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour. His parents Kelly & Jordan are amazing, equally his siblings Star,11, & Hudson, 8. https://t.co/K1vfwbAX2U pic.twitter.com/utob7k9hzu

— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) June 27, 2020

 Here you see her being given the rubber bracelet from Sonny Pope-Saunders.
 More from Emily Nash’s Hello story: 

Tracy Rennie, acting chief executive of EACH, told her: “Sonny’s got you a present!” as he held out a white wristband inscribed with his fundraising slogan “Sonny Smiles” for her to take. Crouching down to chat to him, Kate said: “Hi Sonny, Wow, is that for me? Thank you very much Sonny, am I allowed to take it? Are you going to give it to me later?” After handing it to her with a smile, she popped it straight onto her right wrist.

Kate with Sonny (far left) and his family (from left to right): mother Kelly, brother Hudson (8), father Jordan, and sister Star (11).

The Duchess’s bracelet.

Sonny’s family hoped to raise enough money through a Go Fund Me effort for him to go to Disneyland Paris, but that trip may no longer be an option.  Back to the Hello! story:

…mum Kelly… told Kate how she had taken her son to see the GP in February because he wasn’t himself. Within days he had been diagnosed with the difficult-to-treat brain tumour. 

“It all happened quite quickly,” said the Duchess, who looked visibly moved and shook her head as Kelly added: “And then lockdown hit.”

The family had planned to take Sonny to Disneyland Paris in April and had to postpone but as his illness is now more advanced, it may no longer be possible.

Below, Kate with Sonny, his father, and sister Star. 

Hannah Furness reports in her Telegraph story, “…the Duchess got her hands dirty teaching Star Pope-Saunders, 11, her brothers Hudson, eight, and six-year-old Sonny how to loosen roots from the new pots to replant them.”

More about the garden from Simon Perry’s People story: 

Once at the Nook, she worked for about an hour with a volunteer gardener, EACH staff and some families helped by the charity, to plant the garden using sensory plants including lavender, bay, and rosemary. The calming scene also has strawberry plants, herbs, geraniums, and hydrangeas in a lilac color scheme.

EACH reports the team used plants Kate bought when she visited Fakenham Garden Centre.

Back to Hannah Furness’s piece for The Telegraph: 

The Duchess of Cambridge this week turned her green-fingered talents on her local children’s hospice, planting a summer haven of strawberries, lavender and sensory herbs for families.

The Duchess….put the finishing touches to a newly-designed patio area and boost the spirits of children living at and visiting the hospice.

You may remember Kate speaking with the Delf family during a Zoom call the first of the week: Carla, 13-year-old Stuie, and Stuart.

The family lost 9-year-old Fraser Delf in January. While speaking with the family, the Duchess promised to plant a sunflower in memory of Fraser.  Yahoo reports, “The sunflower has been adopted as the emblem of hospice care, with the seeds representing the patients and the petals representing love, care and compassion.” Below, Stuie and Fraser Delf.

Here is the Duchess with the sunflower she planted for Fraser today.

Fraser’s mother was touched to learn about the sunflower. Russell Myers has more in this Daily Mirror piece:  

His mum Carla, 37, said: “I’m speechless. We are very touched as a family that she has done this and will be going to see Fraser’s sunflower when we can.

“Fraser was always quite girly, and he would have loved to have known a princess was planting a flower for him. He would be very honoured.”

It looks like Star Pope-Saunders helped with the sunflowers. 

Emily Andrews reports in The Daily Mail the Cambridge children are also growing sunflowers: “As they planted the seeds, Kate revealed that her children, George, six, Charlotte, five, and Louis, two, are having a sunflower-growing competition. ‘Louis is winning so George is a little grumpy about that,’ she said.” 

The Duchess also spent time with Liam and Lisa Page and their baby, three-month-old Connor, born with severe brain damage.

The Duchess also thanked EACH staff while she was there, saying, “The care and the nurture that you provide children and families in the most unimaginable circumstances is just awe-inspiring.”  

Kate seemed to thoroughly enjoy her time at The Nook.

A quick review of Kate’s EACH involvement begins in March 2012 as she arrived for the official opening of The Treehouse, an EACH facility.

In 2014 the Nook, where Kate was on Thursday, was in planning stages: an architect’s rendering, fundraising goals, and a lot of hope.

The Duchess was part of the formal fundraising launch for the Nook in November 2014. 

Here you see her at the launch with the founder of Britain’s iconic Emma Bridgewater pottery. A line of Emma Bridgewater ceramic pieces was created and sold as a fundraiser for the Nook.

That function was held at historic Houghton Hall.

In January 2017, the Duchess received an update on the Nook status when visiting an EACH hospice in Quidenham. 

She took part in an art therapy session with 6-year-old Isabella Benton (above) and heard the latest on the Nook’s progress.

And then the Duchess was back for the official opening of the Nook in November 2019. 

She toured the new facility and spent time with patients and their families before delivering remarks. 

As I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, the financial impact of the pandemic has been dreadful for children’s hospices, as well as non-profits around the world. More on the repercussions EACH is facing from this April background piece: 

We are experiencing a devastating drop in income as our shops are closed and the vast majority of our supporters’ fundraising activities and our own events are cancelled or postponed. In the next 12 weeks alone, our loss of income is expected to be around £1,800,000.

We have had no choice but to suspend our planned care activities; including short breaks, wellbeing therapies, groups and events, face-to-face counselling and our Help at Home volunteering service.

The charity launched a COVID-19 emergency fundraising appeal in April. Click here to visit the Just Giving page for that fundraiser.   

A financial sidebar from another of Kate’s patronages: Action on Addiction announced The Brink Café would not be re-opening. You may remember Kate was on hand when the alcohol-free bar and café first opened back on Valentine’s Day 2012.  More from Action on Addiction: 

We are very sorry to announce that as a result of the financial impact of COVID-19, The Brink Café in Parr Street, Liverpool, will not reopen when the government’s restrictions ease. Like many people and organisations, Action on Addiction, which has continued to support The Brink Café since its inception in 2011, has been adversely affected by Covid-19.

This is, however, a very sad moment for Action on Addiction. We are humbled by the strength of feeling that exists in relation to The Brink Café and would like to thank everyone for their heartfelt messages of support. 

Now for our look at what Kate wore last Thursday. 

She was in the Marie-Louise Midi Dress ($189) by Faithfull the Brand.

Done in the label’s Nefili Floral Print, the handmade, hand-dyed & hand-printed piece is 100% rayon.  It features a vee-neck and faux front closure with self-covered buttons, a shirred panel to define the waist, puffed sleeves with rows of elastic at the cuff, an invisible back zipper, and a floaty A-line skirt. A closer look at the details.

The dress is available in limited sizes at Net-a-Porter ($189); as well as at Faithfull ($189); it is on sale at The Iconic (AUD $149.25, about $102).  Many thanks to Sophie for her quick ID of the dress!  

The print is also featured in the Mid-Summer Mini Dress ($169 AUD, about $115 at today’s exchange rates) and the Cuesta Midi Skirt ($159). 

Faithfull The Brand is based in Bali, Indonesia. It was started in 2012 by two friends, Australian Sarah-Jane Abrahams and Norwegian Helle Them-Enger.  More from this Harper’s Bazaar story: 

When it came to setting up the business, Indonesia was the obvious destination, Them-Enger says: “It was where we met and where the idea for Faithfull came about. It was a natural place to begin our business.”

Choosing Bali as the base allowed the company to give opportunities and support to local artisans and to communities who eventually became very closely linked with the business.

“It is important to us that we know how our products are made and who is making them. We want to keep a personal connection with each and every one of our employees to ensure they are well taken-care of. By being based in Indonesia and working so closely with these local communities, we are able to support and encourage local artisans to create beautiful handmade products.”

Kate brought back her Coco-nut Espadrilles (£135, about $167 at today’s exchange rates) from Russell and Bromley. 

And we saw her Twisted Circle Drop Earrings (£5) by UK brand Accessorize. 

We’ll leave with this photo of the Duchess. 

NOTE: Masks are not required in England except for specific circumstances (public transport, hospitals); they “are encouraged in certain situations where social distancing is more difficult, such as in small shops.”  Again, no comment, please on mask policies; that is not something I want to litigate in this space. Many thanks in advance for your help with this!

VIDEO: 

The Royal Family Channel has 3-minutes+ of the garden planting at The Nook. 

Here is 1:10 of raw video from ITV. 

The Duchess of Cambridge has helped out with some gardening during a visit to a children’s hospice in East Anglia to mark #ChildrensHospiceWeek.

To watch more videos, click here: https://t.co/2EWcSv6NHD pic.twitter.com/hcaF8U7Cxf

— SkyNews (@SkyNews) June 28, 2020

 This April piece from EACH explains the financial crisis the charity is facing because of the impact of the coronavirus. It runs about 1:45. 

What we are facing is unprecedented. We know this is a very challenging and uncertain time for everyone, and for EACH the financial impact is overwhelming.

Please, if you can, donate: https://t.co/tYNt3nz290 pic.twitter.com/2bDlfTpPsG

— EACH (@EACH_hospices) April 11, 2020

LINKAGE: 

• Children’s Hospice Week is managed by Together for Short Lives. Visit the organization’s website here; the group’s Facebook page is here; its Twitter feed is here; the charity’s Instagram page is here
• Learn more about EACH at the charity‘s website; you may also follow the organization on Facebook here, as well as on Twitter here
• The Daily Mirror piece is here; The Daily Mail’s coverage is here; a USA Today article is here; the Telegraph’s piece is here; an ITV story is here
• Emily Nash’s article for Hello is here; Simon Perry’s People piece is here
• The full Harper’s Bazaar piece about Faithfull is here