The Princess of Wales stopped off in Nottingham today and brought smiles and selfies to well-wishers waiting in the rain as part of a visit to look at work being done in the city to support students with their mental health.
Her Royal Highness visited Nottingham Trent University's Clifton campus to hear how NTU and the University of Nottingham using pioneering forms of support during Mental Health Awareness week.
The princess met students who spoke about how they're being helped, and later shook hands, posed for photos and selfies, and chatted to a crowd waiting outside the building. Sam Jones reports.
Her Royal Highness visited Nottingham Trent University's Clifton campus to hear how NTU and the University of Nottingham using pioneering forms of support during Mental Health Awareness week.
The princess met students who spoke about how they're being helped, and later shook hands, posed for photos and selfies, and chatted to a crowd waiting outside the building. Sam Jones reports.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 The Princess of Wales arrived at NTU's Clifton campus this morning as part of a Royal Engagement
00:06 for Mental Health Awareness Week. She took part in a wellbeing session with students
00:10 and learned how the universities make sure students aren't becoming isolated from their
00:14 courses and extracurricular activities.
00:17 We all gathered in a circle and then there are statements that would be asked by one
00:24 of the lecturers and then if the statement applies to you, you step in. And then if you
00:28 want to stay in the circle to talk about it, stay in. If you don't want to, you have to
00:31 step back.
00:32 And the Princess just, you know, she just touched on a couple of my interests. When
00:33 I was at university I was in sports, she was doing hockey and tennis and you know, it was
00:42 very relatable. There was a brief moment, it was only five minutes, we got to hear about
00:47 a lot of the Princess's perspectives on a lot of things and you know, just trying a
00:52 lot of different things which was really good and positive to hear.
00:55 After the workshops, the Princess met some of the students close up, shaking hands and
00:59 taking selfies in the rain with those who waited to meet her.
01:05 We have just met Kate Littleton and had a pretty selfie with her and kind of spoke to
01:09 her about our uni experiences at the moment.
01:10 I met in my lecture this morning, I found out. So I didn't actually know at all.
01:18 She's very passionate about leading the next generation and all that so it was an absolute
01:22 privilege to get to speak to her about that and you know, tell her a little bit about
01:25 what we do here.
01:27 She's such an inspiration to young people today and knowing there's somebody out there
01:31 who is rooting for the same cause as the rest of us, thinking I'm not alone, someone like
01:36 that is there. Just what a pleasure to meet her though, she's so lovely.
01:40 And she's just really pretty.
01:41 She is really pretty.
01:42 The two universities have collaborated as part of the Universities for Nottingham scheme,
01:48 meaning all university students in Nottingham can get the best possible help.
01:52 Today I was the host so I brought Her Royal Highness round to meet different people, to
01:58 really talk about what we do here at Trent and also at Uniol as well and then brought
02:03 her to take my expectations.
02:05 She was absolutely, really easy to talk to, really genuinely interested in students and
02:10 students' mental health and how we can really help support students through difficult times
02:14 and even before it gets to a really severe stage like really tackling any mental health
02:20 issues in the RBM.
02:22 It was a very genuine visit, she was really keen to hear from the students and the students
02:25 were the focal part of the visit and to learn of their experiences and she was candid in
02:29 sharing some of her experiences and I think that made the visit really, really positive
02:33 and feel very genuine.
02:34 It's one of the biggest challenges for students when they move to a new place to live, where
02:39 they're particularly vulnerable, when they start Welcome Week and they come to the organisation
02:42 but at any point during their time at university they can need help and need support.
02:48 Sam Jones for NOX TV.
02:49 Thank you.
02:49 [END]