Prince William has been given a new role during the coronavirus crisis

The Duke of Cambridge comended the British public as he spoke with charity workers

If the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge homeschooling their children wasn’t enough to be getting on with, the duke has started a new job during the coronavirus crisis.

As well as dividing their home schooling responsibilities, Prince William and Kate Middleton have shared a new, unseen photo of their home at Kensington Palace to mark Easter.

The prince has just been appointed patron of the National Emergencies Trust, a role that commenced on Easter Sunday. The trust’s ongoing coronavirus appeal has raised millions of pounds for charities that are supporting local communities and the vulnerable during the pandemic.

As part of his new role, William made calls to workers at small charities in England and Wales to thank them for their vital work during the current crisis, including Jacky Crawford, Moorlands Community Charity’s head of service. The Yorkshire-based initiative runs a food bank as well as a hot meals on wheels service for those in need.

In a video call, Jacky told the prince that there had been a ‘really dramatic increase’ in their referrals due to the new coronavirus. ‘There’s nothing like a crisis to bring you all together,’ she said.

‘I think Britian is at its best, weirdly, when we’re all in a crisis,’ the prince agreed. ‘That community spirit and community feel comes rushing back quicker than anything else.’

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The Duke of Cambridge, newly announced as Patron of @National_Emergencies_Trust_ (NET) spoke with the Moorlands Community Charity in Yorkshire about the challenges they are facing and how they are using NET funding to support their community. The charity runs a food bank and are delivering freshly cooked hot meals to increasing numbers of isolated individuals, and have seen a significant rise in referrals to the service since the outbreak of Covid-19. Moorlands accessed NET funding extremely quickly in order to purchase emergency rations of female sanitary products, nappies, baby milk powder and toilet rolls, that had been in short supply due to stockpiling. Visit @national_emergencies_trust_ to find out more about #NETCoronavirusAppeal, launched by The Duke of Cambridge last month.

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Apr 13, 2020 at 12:03am PDT

The prince also spoke with Natalie Webster, who runs community farm Dal Dy Dir, which supports people living with disabilities. The funding from the National Emergencies Trust has been used to get food parcels to nearby vulnerable individuals.

‘Thank goodness you’re there, Natalie,’ the prince said. ‘It’s got to be reassuring for everyone when so much is changing around them, to know you’re still there and your team are still looking out for them. That little bit of reassurance goes a long way.’

He added: ‘The Welsh are always really good at coming together and looking after each other. You see that always in the rugby matches, there’s a good Welsh national vibe there. I love it.’

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Following the launch of #NETCoronavirusAppeal last month, newly announced Patron of @national_emergencies_trust_ (NET), The Duke of Cambridge called in to check on some grassroots charities who are recipients of the NET’s Coronavirus Appeal. One of these beneficiaries was @DalDyDir, a community farm located in Wales that is doing amazing work in supporting people with disabilities and other marginalised groups in their community. Although the organisation and community have had to change the way they work, the funding from NET has provided much-needed support in important areas such as; caring for children with challenging behaviours, distributing food parcels to the community and growing emergency supplies to ensure the increased demand for food delivery is met. To find out more about the #NETCoronavirusAppeal, visit @national_emergencies_trust_

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Apr 12, 2020 at 2:04pm PDT

How lovely!

Here’s to all of us supporting our local communities at this strange and uncertain time.

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