The Princess of Wales visited Family Action in Bradford today, where she met children and their families who are recovering from complex trauma
16:48, 27 Jan 2026Updated 16:48, 27 Jan 2026
Princess Kate visits the Children’s Trauma Therapy Service in Bradford
The Princess of Wales met children at a trauma therapy centre, which she described as a “lifeline”. Kate spoke to therapists at Family Action in Bradford this morning, a charity which helps children and their families recover from complex trauma.
She also joined creative therapy sessions – talking to children and telling them a story – to understand how the use of play can be a vehicle for healing. he has long championed mental health causes and emphasised how nature had helped her “heal” from cancer treatment in a video series most recently released on her 44th birthday earlier this month.
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Kate at Family Action’s Children’s Trauma Therapy Service in Bradford(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Family Action, of which Kate is a patron, provides practical, emotional, and financial support to families who are facing poverty, disadvantage, and isolation nationwide.
Their children’s trauma therapy service in Bradford works with children who have experienced abuse, neglect or a traumatic bereavement.
She said to staff at the centre, “It’s probably been a lifeline for them in so many ways and being able to extend that umbilical cord support – the fact that you’re able to continue that relationship with them.”
Kate joined a therapy session for a mother and her 12 year old son who had been colouring in leaves to put on a collage tree, designed to help children illustrate their feelings and discuss their therapy journey.
The Princess of Wales on a visit to Bradford today(Image: Getty Images)
The boy said how music had helped him process difficult emotions and that he now played drums in a band. Kate said: “That’s a fantastic way to sort of express yourself and also manage really difficult and hard feelings that are sometimes harder to express with words than in any other way.”
She asked if he had ever thought he would play in a band. He replied: “No. If you said it to me three years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you because I wouldn’t have thought I had the attention span for it.”
Kate then met a mother and her five-year-old daughter who were decorating a box of wishes, in which they had added items to help them express their feelings. The princess greeted the girl by crouching down and holding her hand, before complimenting her leopard print dress.
Kate has been in the north of England today(Image: AP)
“I like your dress. That’s a pretty dress and your shoes, I have boots like that but they don’t have glitter on sadly. Are they your favourite boots?”
The girl had put a small pot of glitter and water into the box which she called her “potion”. Asked what the potion did, she said: “It keeps away the bad dreams.” Kate told the girl’s mother: “Lots of people need more of these.”
The girl had also put in a feather – which, her therapist said, was to keep her “busy head” “nice and calm” – as well as two shells in the box. Kate said to her: “Sometimes when you put it to your ear you can hear waves. That’s what I like doing with shells.”
She then asked: “Have you enjoyed coming here to do these things with mummy? What have you enjoyed about it? Is it being able to play together? And talk about some of the things that you find difficult?” The girl nodded.
Kate met youngsters at Family Action’s Children’s Trauma Therapy Service on the first of three engagements in the north of England today chosen to highlight “the healing power of creativity, community and nature for individuals who have experienced trauma, isolation and poor mental health”.
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