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Getting in the picture: Duchess joins charities in photography workshop with children

• Two lucky Welsh young carers meet the Duchess of Cambridge

Two leading UK charities, Action for Children and the Royal Photographic Society have collaborated to deliver a photography workshop for children in which the Duchess of Cambridge has been sharing her love of photography.

It comes as Kensington Palace announced Her Royal Highness as the new Patron of The Royal Photographic Society.  The Duchess has published many of her own portraits of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The Duchess is also Patron of Action for Children which is celebrating its 150^th anniversary this year.

During the workshop the Duchess explored camera techniques with children aged between nine and 18 supported by Action for Children during the session at the charity’s Warren Park residential home in Surrey.

She spent more than an hour with 11 young people, including Ffion Turner from the Cynon Valley and Neve Rees from the Rhondda, from across the UK and two distinguished photographers – RPS Honorary Fellows Jillian Edelstein and Harry Borden. Some of the children already have an interest in photography, whilst for many others this was a first exciting foray into photography, which is known to be a therapeutic and enabling activity for many people.

As she arrived, the Duchess was shown black and white photos from the Action for Children archives of some of the first children helped by the charity when it was founded near Waterloo in 1869 along with others depicting the history of the Royal Photographic Society, also founded in a similar period.

Neve Rees 15, from the Rhondda, cares for her mother who is currently being treated for a serious illness.  She said: ‘Today has been brilliant, something I couldn’t have dreamed of.  The Duchess took her time with everyone and she asked everyone how their day was going and looked at everyone’s photographs.  It’s definitely inspired me as I’ve always been interested in photography and it’s inspired me to keep at it.  It’s been a very special day.’

Ffion Turner 12, from the Cynon Valley and cares for her brother who has suspected ADHD.

‘I enjoyed today so much, I found it awesome.  The Duchess was so nice and she took so much time with everyone and it was a pleasure meeting her.  I showed her a picture of me with my mother and she said it was gorgeous and she liked all the photographs I showed her on the camera.  It really inspired me and has given me that little bit more confidence.

Trudy Fisher, Action for Children’s RCT Young Carers service coordinator said: ‘It was an amazing opportunity for our young people to take part in a photography workshop and meet the Duchess.  It’s something that will stay with them forever and hopefully kickstart a career in photography as well.  The cameras they used in the workshop were donated to them which was a wonderful gesture.’

Action for Children CEO Julie Bentley said, “This charity first began changing the lives of disadvantaged children 150 years ago and we are delighted the Duchess is helping us mark our special anniversary. Today we continue that work to support children because our vision is that every child has a safe and happy childhood, which we know is so important to the Duchess “

COO of the Royal Photographic Society Mike Taylor said, “It is a huge honour to have the Duchess as our Patron, especially given her personal interest in photography. We know that photography and creative pursuits have such a positive impact for people of all ages, and we are excited to be working with one of the Duchess’s charities in support of their work.”

Both charities hope the images taken on the day with the Duchess will be added to the photographic archives of their organisations.