Queen Camilla stuns in animal print as she returns to royal duties after Easter break
Queen Camilla hosted four young people working with domestic abuse charity SafeLives at Buckingham Palace this afternoon.
Queen Camilla has thrown her weight behind a nationwide school pop-up scheme to help young people at risk of domestic abuse or becoming involved in toxic relationships.
In her first engagement since Easter, Camilla hosted four young women from the organisation SafeLives to Buckingham Palace today where they discussed ideas to help support young people experiencing or witnessing domestic abuse.
The group, called ‘Changemakers’, told her their hopes to adapt the school curriculum and work with teachers across the country to save the lives of children and adults at risk of violence or being victims of coercive control.
SafeLives’ mission is to end domestic abuse for everyone, but the charity has a particular focus on young people as research suggests that those aged 13-17 experience some of the highest rates of domestic abuse.
In the UK, over 105,000 children live in households where there is a high-risk domestic abuse and 78 percent of children living in domestic abuse households are directly harmed by the perpetrator of the abuse, in addition to the harm caused by witnessing the abuse of others.
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The charity’s Changemakers are attempting to shape research, campaigns and services for young people impacted by domestic abuse based on real life experiences.
Camilla has long championed the efforts of domestic abuse charities and listened intently to their ideas during a 30-minute roundtable in the Palace’s Music Room.
She was introduced to each of the four women, Maya, 20, Imi, 18, Lybah, 17 and Almas, 15, before hearing about how they recently took their campaign to Parliament in a bid to elevate their cause.
Maya told the Queen that they met Education Secretary Gillian Keegan to lobby the Government to implement changes to national academic guidance.
“Children need to feel less alone and feel stronger,” she said. "Part of our work is about reach and that's why we took our campaign to parliament. We met Gillian Keegan and discussed ways they are trying to change the curriculum, it's absolutely vital we can make changes."
Camilla, who was joined by CEO Ellen Miller for the discussion, noted that the youngsters were a similar age to her own granddaughters - Lola and Eliza, both aged 16 - before hailing the idea to take the campaign directly into schools.
She said: “You’re virtually the same age as my granddaughters and I was talking to one the other day and I was suggesting - to take sort of pop up shops into these schools.
“You know, say two or three Changemakers, it would be such a good idea because then they could all come and ask questions.
“To get around (all these) schools would be a brilliant idea.”
Lybah told the Queen of the groups’ plan to teach young people about the signs that their friends may be victims of domestic violence or toxic relationships.
Camilla said it was so important for every generation “to spot when somebody is down” and said hearing others speak about their own experiences makes it easier to talk about.
She added: “It’s a brilliant project what you are doing and it’s certainly something you could talk about in schools
“It's getting it into the system and when you get it into the classes more people can get involved.”
