The Prince of Wales visits the Refugee Response programme at St Luke’s Church

The Prince of Wales today visited the Refugee Response programme at St Luke’s Church in Earl’s Court.

The Refugee Response is run by Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) and was launched in September 2021 as London sought to welcome hundreds of Afghan arrivals fleeing the Taliban.

The Prince spoke to several groups of refugees, including women taking part in sewing activities, children doing arts and crafts, people taking language lessons and others attending employability clinics.

During the visit His Royal Highness also met with Ukrainian refugee Andriy Kopylash, 55, and his daughter Veronika, 23, who spoke about their recent journeys to the UK. Mr Kopylash, the Ukrainian director for the Alpha Christianity programme, said he came to Britain on a sabbatical in September following the death of both his parents and his wife.

As the situation grew increasingly tense in February, Mr Kopylash said he urged his daughter, who was already planning to fly to the UK for a two-week trip in March, to leave immediately.

The Prince said during the visit:

For me, it is an immeasurable tragedy that so much death and destruction exists around the world at this moment in time, leading to such utter misery for so many people who have to leave their countries like you have.

In December 2021, The Prince attended an advent service at HTB’s Onslow Square site where he also met representatives of the church’s community groups including the Refugee Response programme.