The Duke of York visits Kolkata
In Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal and the former capital of British India, The Duke of York continued his Diamond Jubilee tour of the country by visiting charitable and healthcare institutions.
His Royal Highness began by visiting the Women’s Interlink Foundation (WIF) Centre, a non-governmental organisation working to protect the rights of young women, who are victims of human trafficking, as well as children of sex workers. The WIF work to teach vocational skills to the young women with the aim to empower them economically, helping them to develop skills to allow them to follow lasting employment options. The Duke of York was pleased to see some of the products made by the young women, including scarves, jewellery, saris and leather products. His Royal Highness also participated in a demonstration of block printing scarves. A short cultural presentation of traditional dance and music was performed by the group and His Royal Highness unveiled a plaque marking his visit to the Foundation.
Kolkata is home to the newly opened state-of-the-art Tata Medical Centre, Eastern India’s largest cancer hospital. The Duke of York visited this facility to discuss and further promote links between West Bengal and the UK in healthcare education, research collaboration and knowledge sharing; as well as the challenges facing healthcare provision in India. His Royal Highness was given a tour of the hospital and shown demonstrations of some of the leading technology being used in patient treatment.
The Duke of York’s final engagement of the day was at the Future Hope School, a charitable school, which was established in 1993 as part of the Future Hope charity to provide an education to street children. His Royal Highness met with the Founder, Tim Grandage, and Headmaster, Paul Carling, for a briefing on the school’s philosophy, aims and successes. The school has had considerable success building confidence and a sense of purpose within the children through the use of team sports such as hockey and rugby. The Duke of York was then given a tour of the school, where he met pupils, teachers and volunteers, and finally opened the newly completed Science Laboratory.
A reception to celebrate Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee was held in the evening at the Taj Bengal Hotel.