THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING AND THE QUEEN WILL VISIT EAST LONDON
Wednesday 8th February 2023
Engagement 1:
The King and Queen will visit the heart of the British Bangladeshi community in Brick Lane, meeting charities and businesses. Their Majesties will also meet individuals who were actively involved in the anti-racism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
Arriving at Altab Ali Park, with singing from Sohini Alam (a British singer of Bangladeshi descent) in the background, Their Majesties will meet community members who were actively involved in the anti-racism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
Walking to the Shaheed Minar monument, the King and Queen will speak to young people who have worked on projects related to anti-racism, the preservation of Bangla language and representatives of the Altab Ali Foundation.
Their Majesties will be invited to plant a Dodoens Elm tree together in the commemoration of the death of Altab Ali, before departing by car to Brick Lane.
With primary schoolchildren and locals welcoming Their Majesties to Brick Lane, the King and Queen will pause at the Banglatown arch and the new street mural ‘The Land is Calling’, commissioned as part of the Bangladeshi 50th anniversary celebrations.
Their Majesties, accompanied by a dance procession, will walk the short distance to Graam Bangla restaurant. The King and Queen will meet women who are involved in the British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration organisation, demonstrating the strength and diversity of women of Bangladeshi heritage today.
The King and Queen will move towards Brick Lane Mosque. Entering the Prayer Hall, Their Majesties will meet a local author to learn about the unique history of the building from a church to a synagogue to the present mosque.
Before departure, Their Majesties will also have the opportunity to meet several community representatives, including the Brick Lane Funeral Service Director and the President of the East London Central Synagogue.
Engagement 2:
The King will visit the University of East London to mark the university’s 125th anniversary and open a new frontline medical teaching hub.
As part of the visit His Majesty will open the Hospital and Primary Care Training Hub at the university, which will train future generations of NHS professionals and work towards tackling health inequalities across the United Kingdom.
His Majesty will hear from current students and teaching staff about the state-of-the-art facilities, and how the new hub will transform university-level training for frontline medical roles. The hub has a range of wards that simulate clinical wards such as Accident and Emergency and Intensive Care, to enable students to undertake their training in an environment that replicates real-life situations.
His Majesty will meet students taking part in practical assignments on a range of wards such as the Intensive Care Ward and the multi-professional Healthcare Ward. The Intensive Care Ward simulates a fully operational intensive care unit using Virtual Reality and simulation technology, whilst the multi-professional Healthcare Ward trains students from disciplines including nursing, podiatry, sports therapy and occupational therapy.
The King will be shown a series of demonstrations of how students are taught to make clinical decisions in a safe environment. As well as practical training, the courses also aim to give students the skills to notice and help tackle health inequalities in their professional lives.
The Hospital and Primary Care Training Hub is also home to the BabyDevLab where babies and their caregivers can take part in child and parent friendly psychological research, using wearable tech, with the aim of understanding how babies think and behave. The Lab is involved in a range of pioneering projects, including how babies’ language and attention develops in the early years of their lives.
Afterwards, the King will visit the university’s Great Hall for an exhibition curated by students working towards pioneering advances in sustainability. The University of East London has a range of courses across the university’s departments that focus on sustainability, including the BA in Sustainable Fashion and Management and the MSc in Sustainable Tourism Development & Management. His Majesty will meet students exhibiting their own projects and hear how the University itself is committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2030.
In the Great Hall, His Majesty will unveil a plaque to celebrate the university’s 125th anniversary and declare the new Hospital and Primary Care Training Hub officially open.
