Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh visits Student Gardening and Community Spirit at Newman Catholic College
BRENT, North West London
Wednesday, 7th May 2025
Newman Catholic College in Harlesden, South Brent, today welcomed Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Edinburgh. This visit was arranged through the London Children’s Flower Society, of which Her Royal Highness is a patron. The visit gave Newman Catholic College an opportunity to celebrate the school’s gardening projects, our community work including our foodbank and community garden, and to discuss the work of our school.
Arriving at 11:00 am, Her Royal Highness was warmly received by Mei Sim Lai OBE DL, Representative Deputy Lieutenant of Brent, alongside key figures from the Brent local authority, school governors, and the London Children’s Flower Society. These included Cllr. Tariq Dar MBE, Mayor of Brent; Ms Shirley Parks, Director of Education Partnerships and Strategy, Brent Local Authority; Councillor Dr Ketan Sheth, Chair of the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, Brent Council; Mrs Serena Balfour, Foundation Governor and Chair of the Curriculum Committee and the US Charitable Trust; Ms Emma Jane McGrath of the London Children’s Flower Society; and Mr Andrew Dunne, Headteacher of Newman Catholic College.
The Duchess’s visit commenced with a tour of the school’s entrance gardens, led by Mr John Roche, Chaplain, and Ms Joanne Englishby, Care Lead for Looked After and Disadvantaged Students. Her Royal Highness had the opportunity to view the memorial garden and front lawn, and was introduced to students actively involved in the school’s Sixth Form Enrichment Gardening Club.
A special moment followed as The Duchess planted commemorative ‘Duchess of Edinburgh Chrysanthemum’ flowers and potted ‘Duchess of Edinburgh Clematis’, symbolising her continued support for the London Children’s Flower Society and for Newman Catholic College.
The visit then continued to the NCC Foodbank, established in partnership with Caritas, a Catholic charity, during the Covid-19 lockdown. Led by Ms Sue Grace, Assistant Headteacher, Her Royal Highness met with dedicated student and staff volunteers, learning about their vital work in supporting the local community. H.R.H. accepted a donation of school-made strawberry jam, which had been made by the foodbank volunteers.
The Duchess then visited the school’s thriving Community Garden, where she met the project leads, Dr Tony Burch and Ms Katie Pascoe, and heard about the collaborative efforts involved in its maintenance and development. The community garden shares its produce with the NCC and Sufra foodbanks, and is run by local NW10 volunteers.
In the main school site, Her Royal Highness and Ms Sue Murphy, Deputy Headteacher, then introduced the chairs of the NCC Student Council and our Head Boy and Head Girl, and Ms Priya Patel (Link Worker with the AllChild charity, based at NCC). The Duchess also had the pleasure of meeting Apollo, the school’s therapy dog. A bouquet of flowers was presented to The Duchess, from Nilly’s Flowers, a local Harlesden community flower shop.
The visit concluded with a reception in the entrance gardens, where refreshments were served. Mr Dunne presented Her Royal Highness with special gifts from the school: a limited edition badge commemorating the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope, designed by the Head of Art, Ms Sachelle Linton, and a portrait of St John Henry Newman, the school’s patron, by Year 10 student Osman Mohammed.
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh departed from Newman Catholic College at midday. We were grateful for the time she spent speaking to staff and students, and supporting our local Brent community endeavours.
