The Duchess of Edinburgh visits charities in Surrey

Artventure Trust

Artventure is a Guildford-based charity that supports adults with learning disabilities, physical impairments, or autism to be creative, have fun, and make new friends in a safe and sociable environment.

During the visit, The Duchess of Edinburgh met the staff and volunteers of the charity and spent time with the users of the service, before joining in with an art activity creating a plaster relief using nature’s treasures and a clay mound.

The visit finished with Artventure participants presented a collaborative piece to Her Royal Highness - an impressive canvas with the portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II in a pop art style, they created earlier.

Christopher’s, Shooting Star Children’s Hospice

The next stop was Christopher’s in Guilford, which is run by Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, where The Duchess met children and families supported by the charity.

Her Royal Highness is Patron of Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, which supports 700 families who have a baby, child or young adult with a life-limiting condition or who have been bereaved across west London and Surrey.

The Duchess spent time talking to children and families supported by the charity and joined children in some arts and crafts activities. Her Royal Highness, who officially opened Christopher’s in 2002, also visited the hospice garden to plant a special tree to mark her visit.

Royal Surrey County Hospital

The final stop of the day was Royal Surrey County Hospital to officially re-open a new state-of-the art diagnostic wing.

This was a return visit for The Duchess who had opened the same wing, which is used for diagnosing conditions from heart disease to cancer, 18 years ago.

The Trust’s HASTE Wing has undergone a significant refurbishment that has seen the organisation invest in two state-of-the-art MRI scanners and four cutting edge echocardiography machines.

As well as meeting a number of staff, Her Royal Highness also met patients, including eight-year-old Momen Mohammed who demonstrated how our youngest patients are prepared for an MRI scan using a Lego model.