Kate, 33, arrived at the XLP youth mentoring project in
Barbican, London to meet people who have benefited from the programme along
with husband William, the Duke of Cambridge.
The couple were completing a second day of official
engagements after packing in four meetings yesterday on the difficult issue of
suicide and mental health.
In 2008, the show converted a former police riot van into a
mobile recording studio for the charity.
As the crowd of young people and their mentors laughed,
Patrick continued: 'When I told people the Duke was coming back to see the work
of the charity for a second time they said 'Can you get him to rap in the
van?'.
He said: 'I remember meeting a kid who wore a bullet proof
vest under his school uniform and he said 'I'll be dead by next week. 'He got
stabbed through the neck six weeks later. He survived.
I met a 14-year-old girl who said her biggest aim in life
was to be a single mum. So I found seventeen people to give me £25 per month
and I started XLP.
The charity now works in schools and on housing estates and
set up its mentoring programme in 2008 to pair up young people with mentors for
two hours per week.
Inside, the royals were introduced to mentors who help teens
who are on the verge of school exclusion or who have already been excluded or
involved.
They also watched a film about XLP's battle against knife
crime made by the charity to raise awareness of the issue.
Former gang member Sephton Henry, 27, from Greenwich, told
how he was in and out of jail seven times before the charity's mentoring scheme
helped him.
Now he works training police about gang culture and said
about meeting the royals: 'It was amazing. It's really breaking the barrier
between the different worlds and showing that we're not much different.
'They've really got a passion about the subjects we're
talking about.'
Patrick said of William and Kate: 'I know that the Duke and
Duchess are very keen to try and understand what the issues are, I know they
are very interested in issues around young people's mental health.
'It's really important that the future King has an
understanding of what life is really like for a lot of young people today.
XLP works in more than 75 schools in London to help young
people who are facing emotional, behavioural and relational challenges.
The programme run by the charity sees at-risk 11 to
18-year-olds matched with a community mentor who commits to providing them with
two hours face-to-face time each week for a minimum of 12 months.
Many are facing exclusion from school, or at risk from
involvement in gangs or anti-social behaviour.
William and Kate previously visited another XLP project in
Gipsy Hill just under a year ago when Kate was eight months' pregnant with
Princess Charlotte. Now, with two young children of their own, they want to
learn more about its work.
The royal couple met mentors and service users from three
boroughs at the XLP project at London Wall, near the Barbican in the City of London.
Young people taking part have been referred to the project
by their schools, pupil referral units, youth services and the police.
Their mentors are all drawn from the local community and
receiving training and supervision from an experienced full-time co-ordinator,
who manages up to 25 active relationships by supporting the mentors, mentees
and families through the process.
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