A member of the Royal Family volunteered at a charity in Woking in the run up to Christmas. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh got involved at The Lighthouse on Wednesday, December 18.

The Duchess joined volunteers in serving a free hot meal, helping beneficiaries in the hygiene bank, chatting to visitors, meeting mothers and little ones, doing crafts with Ukrainian refugees and serving customers in the social enterprise café. 

The Duchess is patron of the charity and has volunteered frequently over recent years. The Lighthouse has a wide range of projects and services that support local people in need. It includes providing essential food, clothing and equipment, alongside wellbeing groups, debt coaches, community meals, parenting courses, creative workshops, and more.

The Lighthouse co-founder, Rebecca Jespersen, said: “We are so grateful to Her Royal Highness for her continued inspirational support, bringing encouragement and joy to our volunteer teams and beneficiaries alike.”

The Duchess is pictured serving homemade soup in ‘The Cosy’ social enterprise café, which is sold in distinctive jars with cosies knitted by volunteers. The idea for the product came from The Duchess herself who enjoyed the soup so much on a previous visit, she suggested that it could be sold in jars, complete with a knitted cosy.

Proceeds support the work of the charity and to celebrate the launch of the product, Her Royal Highness was presented with one of the soup jars as a keepsake.

The Lighthouse has supported around 8,000 local people this year, from newborns to the elderly, including refugees, the unemployed, isolated, and vulnerable. It now has four hubs across Surrey and Hampshire with more than 350 volunteers.

You can find out about the work of the charity, including its Christmas kindness appeal and its other hubs at: www.the-lighthouse.info