There’s news tonight from Clarence House, word of the charities Kate will be a patron of, we wanted to share some information with you about each organization.

We’ll start with The Art Room, a group working with young people, helping them ‘learn and achieve’ through art. Some may recall this article in November about Kate visiting a London school so she could learn more about the program. Here is a very brief description of The Art Room via its website.

The Art Room offers art as therapy to children and young people between the ages of 5 and 16, to raise their self-esteem, self-confidence and independence.

One of my favorite parts of exploring this website was seeing examples of things created by students, like Chairs they have painted, Plates decorated by students, and more.

The Art Room

You can learn more about The Art Room on its Facebook page, and Twitter account, or donate here. Or, you can buy the original Art Room book or Tea Towel, those proceeds also help the group.

Here is how The Art Room reacted to the news of Kate’s involvement:

“On behalf of all of our Trustees and staff and the children and young people we support, I want to thank the Duchess for choosing The Art Room. It is a fantastic endorsement of the work we do and the role that art and creativity can play in helping children and young people whose start in life has been difficult.”

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Those who read about Kate’s multiple visits to the National Portrait Gallery won’t be surprised to learn this is one of her choices. The Gallery owns the most extensive collection of portraits in the world, including photographs, paintings, drawings, miniatures and more.  If thinking this is merely a bunch of dusty old paintings, think again.

Kate’s degree in art history will be of benefit in her role with NPG, to be sure. Current exhibitions include The First Actress, Lucien Freud Portraits, and a show with award-winning photographic portraits. If thinking about visiting the Gallery, it’s right off Trafalgar Square, well worth a visit for anyone visiting the UK.

BTW, if you enjoy museum gift shops as much as I do, the Gallery store has an outstanding selection of treasures, here is a sampling.

National Portrait Gallery Gift Shop

You can learn more about the Gallery on its Facebook page, Flickr feed and Twitter feed. If interested in donating to the Gallery, click here.

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Another charity Kate will be involved with, Action on Addiction, a group working with those impacted by all facets of addiction. Here is more from the group’s website:

We are the only charity working across the addiction field in research, prevention, treatment, professional education, support for families and children and campaigns.

This showcases Kate’s interest in family issues. You can learn more at Action on Addiction’s Facebook page, its Twitter feed is here. We would love to share more about the group, but we’ll have to update at a later time, the news seems to have slowed the organization’s website.

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Kate’s work with East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices will surely require extraordinary strength, the group works with children facing fatal illnesses.

East Anglia's Children's Hospices

More from the EACH website:

EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. We provide care and support wherever the family wishes – in families’ own homes, in hospital or at one of our hospices in Ipswich, Milton and Quidenham.

Watching only one story on the group’s site is emotionally wrenching, the thought of helping out on a permanent basis is more-than-daunting.

'Katie's Story" EACH Website

You can learn more about EACH at its primary Facebook page, and/or its page dedicated to raising money for a play area at its Milton hospice, here is the architectural rendering of what the group hopes to build.

EACH Child Play Area Appeal Facebook Page

This is how the play area looks now.

EACH Child Play Appeal Facebook Page

There is also information here on ways to help, and/or you can sign up to receive the group’s newsletter here.

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Kate’s plans to work with Scouts UK were also revealed today.

Scouts UK

From the Scouts UK website:

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge has become Scouting’s newest volunteer and will help at local cub packs and beaver colonies, Clarence House has announced.”

More from The Guardian‘s story:

The Duchess of Cambridge is to become a regular helper with junior Scout groups in London and north Wales after making the Scout Association one of the first voluntary organisations with which she will officially be associated.

St James’s Palace said this means she will help to supervise games and other activities and probably go on weekend camps.

Those well versed in Kate’s background will recall she was a scout herself, a Brownie. The Guardian‘s story reports Kate will wear a “standard uniform of polo shirt and scarf,” this is what that looks like, from the Scouts UK online shop:

Scouts UK

From the online description:

“The new updated version of the Network Scout Polo shirt…now has contrast purple trims on the collar, cuffs and placquet and the embroidered Scouts be Prepared logo on the chest.

There are other family ties to this group, the Queen is also a patron.  While much of the media coverage seems to be emphasizing the Scouting role, Kate is not officially going to be a patron of the group.

You can read more in The Guardian’s story here, the Daily Mail story here.