The Princess of Wales donned a hard hat as she was shown around the construction site of an expanding Ipswich children’s hospice in Suffolk.
Catherine received a guided tour of the new extension to The Treehouse, run by East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), when she visited Ipswich on October 22.
The Princess also met with families and carers, including a bereavement support group, talking with them about the care their children had received from EACH.
Her Royal Highness was made the Royal Patron of the charity in 2012 and made her very first public speech as a royal at the official opening of The Treehouse that year.
The plans for the extension to the hospice include a new hydrotherapy pool, a new wellbeing and therapies suite, and an extended care activity area.
The project aims to give the charity the ability to reach more families in Suffolk and north Essex, futureproofing the site to meet the growing demand for its service.
The construction work, led by main contractor Gipping Construction, is set to be completed in spring 2028.
After visiting Ipswich, Her Royal Highness travelled up to Norfolk to meet staff, volunteers and customers during a surprise drop-in at Café 98, within EACH’s Hoveton shop near Wroxham.
EACH Chief Executive Kevin Clements said: “It was a privilege to welcome The Princess back to The Treehouse, and we continue to be incredibly grateful for her commitment and invaluable contribution as our dedicated Royal Patron.
“Both visits represented a fantastic platform to shine a national and international spotlight on our work.
“Such ongoing support makes a tangible difference, and it gave us a wonderful opportunity to provide an update on our exciting plans and the progress of our expansion project.
“I firmly believe it’s one of the most important building developments currently happening in Suffolk and, of course, it represented something of a full-circle moment, as The Princess officially opened our hospice back in 2012.
“As such a champion of children’s hospice services, having the opportunity to show The Princess the development felt like a real milestone and something to be celebrated.
“The visit also gave us an important chance to provide an update on our fundraising endeavours as we continue to drive forward both the expansion project and the provision of vital day-to-day care and support for families.
“Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, together with investment from our reserves, we’ve already made significant progress. However, we still need to raise a further £1.4 million to complete the project by Spring 2028.”
