The Duke of Edinburgh returns to St Andrew’s Youth Club as part of Patronage with charity London Youth
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh visited St Andrew’s Youth Club in Westminster as part of his Patronage of charity London Youth. The Duke took over the Patronage in 2020 from his father, who held it for 74 years. Over the last five years, His Royal Highness has visited several youth organisations within London Youth’s 600-strong membership as well as Woodrow High House, one of the charity’s two outdoor residential centres. His Royal Highness’ visit to St Andrew’s on May 12th was a return visit. The Duke visited the world’s oldest youth club in late 2022, in honour of the club’s 156th birthday. This most recent visit – falling during Mental Health Awareness week and shortly after the five-year anniversary of the first lockdown – presented an opportunity to meet new faces at St Andrew’s, and catch up with the expert team that run the historic youth centre.
In 2023, the NHS England Digital found that 20.3% of 8-16 year olds, 23.3% of 17-19 year olds, and 21.7% of 20-25 year olds had a probable mental disorder. Over 80% of London Youth’s 600 member organisations surveyed last year provide services and activities around mental health and wellbeing.
St Andrew’s is just one of London Youth’s member clubs where children and young people increasingly face mental health challenges such as low moods and anxiety. To address this need, the team at St Andrew’s welcomed a new addition: a dedicated mental health worker via mental health charity Mind. They join the club once a week to lead group workshops and one-on-one sessions, equipping young people with tools to support their mental health and wellbeing.
During the visit, The Duke of Edinburgh joined in with the club’s scheduled activities: he picked up a controller for a quick game of PlayStation, got stuck into baking in the kitchen as part of the daily ‘Bake and Share’, and sat down for some mindful colouring and essential oil mixing. Throughout, he was introduced to young people who were delighted to explain why they love coming to St Andrew’s week after week.
The Duke was then taken on a tour of the club, taking in improvements and additions made since his last visit that meet the evolving needs of young people. An example was the sensory room, added in November last year. The room is complete with a light table, projector, bubble machine and lots of sensory equipment, and tailored to the estimated 10% of young people at St Andrew’s with special educational needs or disabilities who might find aspects of the club overwhelming and require a calm space.
After observing a game of under-9s football and meeting the young players, His Royal Highness proceeded to the club’s ‘theatre’: a dedicated studio space for dance, performance and music. Here, he met some of London Youth’s supporters, old and new. The group, which included entrepreneurs in the tech, PR and beauty spheres, as well as senior leaders of London-based businesses, spent some time conversing with The Duke, sharing their motivations for supporting the charity. The room then heard from Pauline Daniyan, CEO of London Youth, who provided some of the wider context within which the charity’s membership, comprising around 600 community youth organisations supporting over 700,000 young people in the capital, is operating.

Pauline Daniyan, Chief Executive of London Youth said: “It’s always an honour to be able to showcase the work of our membership to our Patron and to our valued supporters. We’re delighted and grateful that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh was able to return to St Andrew’s and celebrate the continued, life-saving work of its team. We’ll never tire of saying that young people matter, and that youth work is essential. For young people, having access to a safe space where they can be themselves can be life changing. It’s vital we recognise how youth workers and organisations support young Londoners’ mental health and wellbeing, offering them a place to be heard, understood and supported.”
Sarah Nicholls, CEO of St Andrew’s Youth Club said: “We are delighted that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh chose to visit St Andrew’s Club for a second time, in his role as Patron to London Youth. The Duke’s visit and the amazing work of London Youth help to highlight the crucial role that youth clubs and youth workers play in helping young people to access the opportunities and skills they need to thrive in the future. For our young members and youth workers the opportunity to meet His Royal Highness is a huge honour and will have created memories that I have no doubt will last for a long time to come.”