By Emily Caulkett-
His Majesty King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla greeted school children as they toured a Walthamstow community youth hub that aims to promote social inclusion and lessen anti-social behaviour.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla were greeted with cheers and waving flags when they arrived at Project Zero, a hub based in Grange Road, Walthamstow.
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The two arrived at 11am as Barn Croft Primary School pupils eagerly gathered to tell the royal members about their day and their excitement.
The visit was arranged after founder Stephen Barnabis and youth champion Rico Thai-Richards at the Platinum Jubilee Big Lunch on June 5.
The King chatted with members of Project Zero about the work being done to promote women’s safety and the access locals have to job markets – a cause which he spent many decades promoting in his work with The Prince’s Trust.
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However their majesties also heard the very personal stories from youths who rely on Project Zero to give them a place to have fun and learn creative arts, fashion, media skills and more.
Mr Barnabis explained he had lost two cousins to knife crime, once in 2004 and another in 2016.
The family centre engages young people in positive activities and programmes that help with their future employment.
Youngsters at the hub proudly showed off the studio equipment and other rooms used to teach music skills, media production and other types of activities.
King Charles greeting people at Project Zero. Founder Stephen Barnabis is on the right.
Project Zero was founded in June 2019 after Mr Barnabis’ 30 years of experience in youth engagement.
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla In Walthamstow Image:Getty images
Rebecca Huggins, a youth engagement worker, described the “vibes and essence” room that particularly supports young girls who were targeted in sexual exploitation.
Then their majesties erupted in applause after watching a special performance by those at Project Zero.
Mr Barnabis called Their Majesties “very down to Earth” and said that he was very glad to see them both come to “this corner of Walthamstow”.
Discussing goals for the future, he said: “We have the cost of living and energy crisis, so we’re expecting our energy bill to go up quite a bit this year, so that’s a challenge we’re going to be looking into.
“But we just want to be able to continue running and providing our core services – the holiday programmes and activities and out of school hour activities for people.”
He explained there has been a rise of people requiring these services and said: “As we came out of Covid, that’s the reason why we have so many young people because everyone was cooped up.
“Outdoor activities were more important than ever and I think we have another crisis coming up with the cost-of-living, so activities are going to become even more crucial.”
The visit to East London comes after the King recently returned from a visit to Aberdeen, where the monarch thanked the soldiers who watched over his late mother’s coffin. He then went on to spend time meeting the newly-arrived refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine
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