Posts Tagged ‘Prince William’

Royal Watching for Inspiration

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I’m always fascinated by the frenzy of following every movement or breath of famous folks.

Royal Watching has become quite the national and international pastime, and ramps up to a frenzy when the family members of Britain’s Queen get married or bring a new baby into the world.

We tune in or pick up the grocery store checkout line mags to assess (criticize?) dresses and clothes and baby pictures and pronouncements. Are we comparing ourselves? Fantasizing what it must be like to be royalty? Waiting for some weird schadenfreude moment when someone trips and falls?

I am Royal Watching right now for another reason—I’m looking for inspiration. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are in South Africa with their young son, Archie, touring and meeting folks and visiting some fantastic social good causes and NGOs.

That’s the kind of discovery travel I love.

Harry and Meghan have been heart-driven since before they were together, and at their wedding, this benevolence was made manifest with their request that gifts be made as donations to charities. Here is my first look to these particular royals for inspiration.

The Royal Wedding charities they listed were (click the links to find our more about each cause):

CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association), working to ensure young people living with HIV have the treatment and care, knowledge, understanding, skills, and wider support to live well and achieve their greatest potential.

Crisis, the UK’s national charity for homeless people helping people directly out of homelessness, working side-by-side in housing, employment, education, and advice services.

The Myna Mahila Foundation empowers women in the urban slums of Mumbai, India, employing women to manufacture and sell affordable sanitary pads back into their communities to improve menstrual hygiene, provide stable employment, and build a trusted network.

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Scotty’s Little Soldiers is dedicated to supporting children and young people who have lost a parent while serving in the Armed Forces.

Street Games uses sport to change lives for healthier, safer, more successful communities.

Surfers Against Sewage inspires communities to protect oceans, beaches, waves, and wildlife.

The Wilderness Foundation UK harnesses the power of the wilderness to transform vulnerable lives and empowers people to conserve nature.

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In addition to those charities chosen by the Royal Couple for wedding gift support, they co-lead The Royal Foundation (alongside Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge). This foundation has multiple initiatives in several areas: mental health and removing its stigma, conservation of endangered species and wildlands, military service & veteran support, programs for young people, early education, and empowering communities.

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While they are in Africa they are visiting several projects, one I particularly sparked to, The Justice Desk, which operates in South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, empowering local people to understand and defend their human rights in order to build safer communities for all. They educate and equip, train and advocate for youth and vulnerable groups for justice and equality.

Rhino Rescue With Prince William, David Beckham, and Yao Ming

It is atrocious how staggeringly low the numbers of remaining wild rhinos are on this planet. Poaching to fuel the false medical industry in China that has duped me into thinking powdered rhino horn will make them virile. Can we just ship them some damn Viagra and have them not screw up the entire balance of the planet just to feel macho? C’mon people!

Watch the video above. Sign the pledge at Wild Aid. Get active. Don’t let their extinction happen on our watch.

Royal Wedding Charity Fund

Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton (now Duchess) had a little shindig a couple days ago–you may have heard. Not in any great need of toasters or matching napkin rings, the royal couple didn’t register at Crate & Barrel, but instead, they have a great idea for gifting. The Royal Wedding Charity Fund has been set up for well-wishers to donate in the couple’s behalf to assist charities that support five causes that William and Kate have chosen.

Their charitable priorities are:

*Support for Services Personnel and Their Families

*Children Fulfilling Their Potential

*Conservation for Future Generations

*Changing Lives Through Arts and Sport

*Help and Care at Home

100% of your donation goes to the causes chosen by the couple, and are managed by the The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry so there won’t be any overhead or administrative cost skimmed off the top of your donation.

I’m willing to bet one of these resonates with you as well…and a donation here doesn’t need to include a gift receipt so they can return it in case they already received one.

People’s Prince

If you’re in the Northeast, you are shivering right about now. It is wicked cold. Shelters open and are full to capacity on nights like these, for those without homes in which to hunker down, but there are never enough beds or floor space and some folks are, literally, left out in the cold.

Prince William recognizes this issue in the U.K., and recently spent a cold December night sleeping on a cardboard box, out on the street, to bring attention and deeper understanding to the problem of homeless youth on the streets of London and other British cities. Centrepoint is the English charity trying to solve the issue of homelessness among young people. For four decades, the organization has been battling back the ravages of involuntary outside life…unavoidable hardships for those who “sleep rough.”

William is a patron and longtime supporter of Centrepoint’s work, so this wasn’t merely a publicity stunt. Of his bitterly cold night, William said, “I cannot, after one night, even begin to imagine what it must be like to sleep rough on London’s streets night after night. Poverty, mental illness, drug and alcohol dependency and family breakdown cause people to become and then stay homeless. Centrepoint’s work – along with many other organizations’—in tackling these fundamental causes—is desperately important if we are ever to end homelessness in this country. I hope that by deepening my understanding of the issue, I can help do my bit to help the most vulnerable on our streets.”

Centrepoint has helped over 70,000 homeless young people in their long run. Is there an organization, near where you live or where you’ll travel on your next trip, that you can help? Serving at a kitchen, handing out coats or blankets, donating warm clothing and other necessities…it’s a great way to launch into the New Year.