As The Duchess of Cambridge launches the results of her landmark survey and research today, let’s look back at her stand out early years projects/initiatives over the years

This thread will include only SOME of her work in the past 9 years

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#5BigInsights

In 2013, The Duchess of Cambridge (as patron of @ActionAddiction) launched MPACT Plus, a programme to provide early support for children in schools struggling with family members with an addiction.

This was funded by the Royal Foundation & Comic Relief.

The project helped 192 families struggling to deal with addiction in the pilot phase, 283 @Place2Be staff and volunteers were trained up and had the reach to 26,125 children and young people through their work.

Following a successful pilot of this programme, place2be applied for an extension for an additional 18 months. Once completed, M-PACT Plus was merged into its parent programme “M-PACT” and is now managed by Action on Addiction.

Between 2014 and 2017, the Duchess of Cambridge launched and worked on the “FSV Volunteering Package”.
This was an innovative project to help support families who have a child with life limiting or threatening condition.

The FSV team volunteer with families to provide practical support in the home thus allowing them more time to focus on their children. The programme was funded by The Royal Foundation and True Colours Trust.

After Phase 2 of the pilot in 2017, 43 volunteers were matched with 42 families. Funding was secured for another year which proved successful. In 2018, the pilot ended and now a range of activities from the programme “have been embedded & spreading the learning across the sector”

In 2017, a sub programme was launched for the very successful FSV programme. The Duchess launched “Together We Can” which is a collection of resources designed to equip & inspire organisations working in children’s palliative care to use volunteers to provide support to families.

It differs from it’s parent programme as it doesn’t actively provide volunteers like FSV buy instead offers resources for organisations.

The resources for this sub- programme were also funded by The Royal Foundation and True Colours Trust.

In 2015, the duchess (with @Place2Be) launched the first ever Children’s Mental Health week in the U.K. The week shines a spotlight on the importance of young people’s mental health. Due to its popularity & effectiveness, CMH week has been expanded further over the years.

Other charities have now become involved & actively participate, Twinkl is just one of the many who have joined in. The duchess has carried on supporting this week each year and marks the occasion with visits, speeches, talks and letters.

In 2016, the Duchess guest edited at @HuffPostUK for a day and launched the “Young Minds Matter” series from a temporary newsroom set up at Kensington Palace.

The Duchess helped to commission a series of articles, blogs and videos from several leading figures in the MH sector

In 2018, The Nursing Now 2020 campaign was launched by the Duchess. It is aimed to raise the profile and status of the nursing profession worldwide. In a speech, the duchess pledged her support to nurses around the world.

The campaign focuses on 5 core areas as listed in the picture below that it hopes to achieve by 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this date has now been shifted to 2021 to allow the professionals working on the programme to align their focus on COVID-19.

Also in 2018, the Duchess launched “Mentally Healthy Schools”, a website designed for primary schools teachers & staff, giving them free access to hundreds of the highest quality assured mental health resources.

Having started work on this in 2016, after 2 years of testing & ...

development within The Royal Foundation, MHS saw 250,000+ visitors to the site accessing the resources.

In April 2020, after popularity of MHS soared, The Anna Freud Centre took ownership of the site. They will continue to develop the site so it reflects the U.K. curriculum.

Early in 2018, The Duchess announced during a symposium at the Royal Society for Medicine that she had convened a steering group to look at what can be done to make a positive difference to the lives of children by focusing on their early years.

The steering group’s recommendations, on behalf of the Duchess, will form the basis of The Royal Foundation’s strategy for developing her work in this area in years to come.

In 2019, as part of this steering group, the duchess launched “5 BIG QUESTIONS”, a trailblazing UK-wide survey aiming to change the lives of future generations. The survey follows eight years of work and research, and will spark the biggest ever conversation on early childhood.

To promote the survey, the duchess toured the UK and also took part in a podcast with Giovanna Fletcher. The findings of this survey will provide vital information for the early years sector and give The Duchess and her steering group a list of priorities and focus.

In 2019, The Duchess co-designed the Back to Nature garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Her inspiration had families and childhood at the heart of its design and was named and built on The Duchesses passion for the outdoors & the benefits that nature has on health.

Following the garden at Chelsea, the Duchess collaborated again with the RHS to publish five activity guides that are intended to inspire young gardeners to engage with gardens and nature and add a touch of Chelsea magic to their own homes (pictured)

In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic the Duchess brought together 19 retailers and British brands to donate over 10,000 items for 40 baby banks in the U.K.

Baby Banks are a crucial nationwide service helping to support some of the most vulnerable families in the UK by...

providing essentials such as nappies, clothing and bedding.

Hearing of this, The Duchess reached out and orchestrated the donations from U.K. brands and retailers.

This supported @BabyBasicsUK, @LittleVillageHQ and #Abernecessities

Today, in November 2020, the Duchess releases the survey results of #5BigQuestions with additional scientific research (commissioned by The Royal Foundation) which includes qualitative and ethnographic research conducted before and during the pandemic on the...

...impact of Covid-19 on families.

This research and the findings from the survey will form the basis of the Duchesses’ work for years to come. It will show her where to focus and what needs to be done.

More than 500,000 people completed the survey, she will be their voice.

It goes without saying that the Duchess has a massive reach, she has the platform to make a difference and help where she can.

Her early years steering group, The Royal Foundation, charities and the countless people who she speaks to every day help shape her work.

In the words of Professor Peter Fonagy:

The Duchess “..is the most important woman doing this in the world right now, to the millions of children who have been suffering in silence, she is their voice”.