THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have visited a Canadian charity which provides support to vulnerable mothers and pregnant women battling with addictions and other problems in their lives which is inspired by a service opened by Princess Diana in Glasgow 26 years ago.
The royal couple, on the second day of their official tour of Canada, visited Sheway in Vancouver.
Ron Abrahams, a physician who works with Sheway, told the prince how his mother had opened the Women’s Reproductive Maternity Service in Glasgow in 1990, on which Sheway has modelled itself on.
Read more: Irn Bru maker AG Barr to axe 90 jobs as revenue falls 3.6%
It was started by Dr Mary Hepburn in Rottenrow Maternity Hospital.
The consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist has fought for more than 30 years to improve the outcomes of mothers-to-be with drug and alcohol problems, HIV, mental health issues or abusive backgrounds.
The duke’s family’s connection with the charity was the reason behind the visit and William said it was “good to hear”, but admitted he had not read his briefing notes.
He added: “I’ve got this huge file of notes I haven’t managed to get through yet but I’ll get there.”
Read more: Irn Bru maker AG Barr to axe 90 jobs as revenue falls 3.6%
Mr Abrahams added: “It’s wonderful to have you here after all the work your mother did in this field.
“It’s like full circle for us with your family.”
William smiled and looked visibly moved as he listened to Mr Abrahams talk about Diana.
Mr Abrahams added: “He was really quite chuffed.”
The royals were shown round the centre by Patti Zettel, Sheway’s manager and the clinical co-ordinator Dana Clifford.
“Thanks so much for having us here, sorry about all the chaos we’ve brought with us,” laughed the prince.
The couple then watched a “vest-making” session for teddy bears.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here