Kate meets fellow parents in London park to discuss support during lockdown

The Duchess of Cambridge has met up with mothers in a London park to chat about how they have been helping each other out during the pandemic.

Kate heard how parent-to-parent support through organisations such as Home-Start, National Childbirth Trust (NCT) and Mush was affected during lockdown.

The duchess – mother to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – was greeted in the autumn sunshine in the picturesque Old English Garden in Battersea Park, south London.

Kate, casually dressed in a white top, pink trousers and white trainers and holding sunglasses, spoke with the mothers, whose children were in pushchairs, as they sat socially distanced on wooden park benches.

She was told how peer groups struggled to meet up during the Covid-19 lockdown and how important access to outside space has been to their health and wellbeing.

The duchess, for whom early years development is a key focus, earlier held a video call with eight organisations from across the country to talk about helping parents with young children.

Among the groups was Home-Start, whose volunteers give thousands of hours of help to parents tackling issues such as postnatal depression, isolation and bereavement.

Others included Parents 1st, the Island House Charity Community Parent Programme based in Tower Hamlets, Better Start Blackpool, NCT, Applied Research Collaboration – North West coast, the children’s charity Coram, and Leeds Dads.

Peer-to-peer supporters can range from paid professionals and trained volunteers to more informal parent networks.