The Duchess of Cornwall marked the 130^th anniversary of Royal Trinity Hospice by lighting up the Christmas tree

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall visited Royal Trinity Hospice yesterday. The Duchess has been the charity’s Royal Patron for over 15 years and her visit was part of Trinity’s celebrations marking their 130^th anniversary, a landmark for the oldest hospice in the UK.

During the visit, The Duchess met with staff, volunteers, patients, and relatives of those who were cared for by the hospice, before officially lighting Trinity’s Christmas tree, accompanied by a school choir from the local St Mary’s RC Primary School in Clapham.

The Duchess spent time talking to frontline staff who have worked to continue the hospice’s specialist palliative and end of life care throughout the pandemic, as well as support, retail and administrative staff. Following this, The Duchess met privately with patients and family members in Trinity’s inpatient unit.

Her Royal Highness also met a small group of volunteer gardeners who give their time to ensure Trinity’s two acres of award-winning gardens are a welcoming haven for patients, and several family groups who have had loved ones cared for by Trinity.

The Duchess was then invited to switch on Trinity’s Christmas Tree light installation outside the hospice after which she was presented with flowers by Lois and Mylo Mitchelmore, whose grandfather Onkar who was cared for at the hospice in 2017.

Emily Carter, Chief Executive of Royal Trinity Hospice, said,

“We were delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall back to Trinity yesterday.

During the visit Her Royal Highness was interested to hear how the team at Trinity have pulled together in extraordinary ways to enable care to continue at the high standard our patients deserve throughout the pandemic.

We are very proud to have The Duchess as our Royal Patron and thrilled that she could join us to help mark this special 130^th anniversary year”

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