Kate Middleton says pandemic ‘exacerbated’ struggles families face in deprived areas as she praises food bank volunteer who features in her Hold Still photography contest for his ‘community spirit’ during phone call
- Duchess of Cambridge has praised a volunteer for his ‘real community spirit’
- Their chat was shared to the Duchess of Cambridge’s YouTube account today
The Duchess of Cambridge has said she recognised struggles families faced during the pandemic while praising a volunteer who worked at a food bank for his ‘real community spirit’ after he appeared in her Hold Still photography contest.
Sami, who only gave his first name and came to the UK with his partner Helen last year, began helping out at the Community Food Hub, in Hackney, east London, while his partner was working at one of the Nightingale Hospitals.
During his first day, photographer Grey Hutton was taking pictures of volunteers at the food hub as part of the National Geographic’s Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists when he decided to take a picture of Sami.
The image of Sami, which shows him standing outside of the food bank wearing PPE and smiling, is among 100 photographs chosen for Kate’s Hold Still project.
In a phone call with Sami, which was published on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s YouTube channel today, Kate said his story was ‘fascinating’ and had been included as the role of the exhibition was to highlight the ‘amazing work’ being done by communities during the pandemic.
The Duchess of Cambridge (pictured) has said she recognised struggles families faced during the pandemic while praising a volunteer who worked at a food bank for his ‘real community spirit’ after he appeared in her Hold Still photography contest
Kate, who is a keen amateur photographer, launched the Hold Still initiative during lockdown and asked the public to submit their images which captured the period for a digital exhibition.
She was then joined by a panel of five judges to select the best photos from more than 31,000 submitted for the nation-wide contest and said she was ‘overwhelmed’ by the response and that it was ‘so hard’ to whittle the images down to a top 100.
During the five-minute call, which was recorded in Autumn 2020, Kate thanked Sami for his hard work while volunteering.
She said: ‘I just wanted to call, Sami, to say a huge thank you for sending in your photograph, and how thrilled we were to have it as part of the final selection.
‘This is really to celebrate you guys and all the amazing community work that was happening around lockdown and to really celebrate that and highlight it as well because the work you were doing was off your own back
Sami (pictured), who only gave his first name and came to the UK with his partner Helen last year, began helping out at the Community Food Hub, in Hackney, east London, while his partner was working at one of the Nightingale Hospitals
‘I think it shows real community spirit, so the thanks goes to you and the well done goes to you really.’
A photograph of a casual-looking Kate, wearing a Whistles blouse and black trousers, and a snap of Sami appeared while a recording of their call plays in the background.
Kate said: ‘I think there is a real desperate need, wasn’t there? I think the struggles that families, the kids had were there anyway but then everything’s been exacerbated.
‘That’s exactly how it was,’ Sami added. ‘I learnt so much in my time as a volunteer there.’
During his first day, photographer Grey Hutton was taking pictures of volunteers at the food hub as part of the National Geographic’s Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists when he decided to take a picture of Sami (pictured)
The duchess said she was ‘thrilled’ to have his image as part of the final selection, while Sami said it felt ‘really awesome’ to have been chosen.
Kate added: ‘There’s lots of great work going on out there and actually it’s being able to bring it to the forefront and to remind people that although it might not be on their doorstep, but actually, this sort of amazing work is going on in communities
‘And that’s why part of the photography project is really just highlighting different acts of kindness and different ways in which we’ve all pulled together. And we felt that was really important.’
The Hold Still project encouraged the public to document life through photographs during the pandemic. It has since been turned into an exhibition and book.
Sami, who moved to the UK with his girlfriend Helen, has since moved back to be with his family in Rio.
Source: Read Full Article