The Duke of Cambridge has quizzed recovering addicts about their thoughts on legalising drugs during a visit to a charity supporting users to get clean.
William told three former users it was a ‘question I had to ask’ after talking to them and visiting the east London-based Spitalfields Crypt Trust (SCT), which for more than 50 years has provided much-needed services for alcohol and drug addicts.
In a lighter moment during the visit, the Duke was given two wooden owls for Prince George and Princess Charlotte and a third for his unborn child – and he joked with a former addict, now a trainee midwife, he might see her sooner than she thought.
Sitting in an art room used by the charity based in Shoreditch, the Duke said to the trio: ‘Can I ask you a very massive question – it’s a big one – there’s obviously a lot of pressure growing in areas about legalising drugs and things like that. What are your individual opinions on that?
‘I know it’s a big question, but you seem like the key people to actually get a very good idea as to, you know, what are the big dangers there – what are the feelings?’
Heather Blackburn, 49, was the first to reply and said she thought the legalisation of drugs was ‘a good idea’ and that money was wasted on ‘drug laws’.
The Duke of Cambridge in the workshop with volunteer and former client Bernard Bristow, where they restore donated furniture as part of the theraputic process, during his visit to the Spitafields Crypt Trust
Prince William takes a seat on a chair restored by volunteers at the Spitafields Crypt Trust charity
She added: ‘Most of the people I’ve known in recovery, 95 per cent, had massive trauma and terrible stuff happen to them and using drugs to cope and then you get put in prison, you don’t get the facilities and the actual help you need, you get punished.
‘Which is not going to help anyone taking drugs, it’s going to even do more harm I think.’
When William asked: ‘So there needs to be more of a social element to it?’ she replied there should be more help, such as psychiatrists, so people could turn their lives around earlier.
The Duke of Cambridge in the art room where clients can undergo a series of lessons or just explore their own creativity
The Duke added: ‘So prison doesn’t tackle the root cause of why someone is taking drugs?’ and Ms Blackburn replied ‘No, it just punishes what you’ve done, not the reasons why.’
Founded in 1965, SCT started as one of the first residential rehabilitation centres in the UK for homeless men suffering from alcoholism.
Today it runs a number of social enterprises, like the coffee and book shop Paper & Cup, and its services address the needs of those seeking help from mental and physical health issues, employment and housing needs, personal relationships, and career aspirations.
It aims to helps users get clean, develop self-respect and hope for the future
William started his tour by visiting Paper & Cup in Shoreditch, where trainees learn how to become baristas, serve customers, work in a team and manage a small cafe.
At the SCT’s nearby drop-in centre the Duke chatted to some of the charity’s service users and volunteers, before meeting a number of the organisation’s therapists at the personal development and training hub.
The visit ended at the Restoration Station, a vintage furniture shop and refurbishment service, to see the woodworking skills of recovering addicts.
While William continues with a busy schedule of royal engagements, his wife Kate has been forced to take a break from public duties as she battles hyperemesis gravidarum.
The Duke of Cambridge in the drop-in cafe which is geared toward the homeless, during his visit to the Spitafields Crypt Trust
William chats with former clients Jason, Heather and Grace in the art room at the Spitafields Crypt Trust
William is continuing his busy schedule of royal engagements while his wife Kate continues to take a break from public duties as she battles hyperemesis gravidarum
However, royal fans were able to catch a glimpse of the Duchess yesterday in her first appearance since her pregnancy announcement as she appeared in a charity video about children’s mental health.
Kate yesterday launched the ‘You’re never too young to talk mental health’ campaign by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.
In a video recorded in January, several months before she is believed to have fallen pregnant, Kate urged parents to encourage their children to be ‘open about their feelings’.
Donning a £1,600 Eponine blue coat, the well-spoken duchess also called on people to speak out when they have feelings that are ‘too big to manage on our own’.
The Spitafields Crypt Trust charity which provides a holistic recovery service to those dealing with complex drug and alcohol addictions, and often homelessness
The campaign, which aims to promote mental health awareness in schools, includes a video introduction from Kate, which she recorded on a visit to the Child Bereavement UK Centre in East London in January this year.
Discussing the campaign, Kate, who is soon-to-be a mother-of-three, said: ‘As parents, we all want our children to have the best possible start in life.
‘Encouraging children to understand and be open about their feelings can give them the skills to cope with the ups and downs that life will throw at them as they grow up.