Crisis continues in wait for reforms
Kate looks striking in her green dress KATE ON WILLIAM, GEORGE CHARLOTTE AND LOUIS SMILING Kate showed primary school children what makes her happy yesterday – her family.
The Duchess of Cambridge took a picture of herself with Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for a game of show-andtell with the youngsters.
She said: “This is a photograph of my family. These are my children and this is my husband.
“And my family makes me feel happy. And we like playing outside together and spending Meeting Herbie lots of time together. And that makes me feel very happy.”
Kate looked striking in a green dress as she arrived at Lavender primary school in Enfield, North London, as part of Children’s Mental Health Week.
As patron of the charity Place2Be she watched pupils keeping fit by doing a “daily mile” in the playground and met the school dog, a cockapoo called Herbie, bending down to give him an affectionate pat.
She joined in with a lesson on diet and spoke about how sugar can give you a brief feeling of euphoria but your emotions can then come crashing down.
She said three-year-old Charlotte already enjoyed olives and that she frequently got her children to cook their favourite cheesy pasta with her.
Kate went on to visit Alperton Community School in Wembley, where she spoke about switching off from the online world.
She revealed she was teaching her children papier mache and hoped to get back into tie-dying. ■ Camilla let slip that she and Prince Charles will visit Cuba this spring, the first royals to do so. Kate chats to primary kids as school staff look on MORE than 50,000 elderly people have died waiting for social care since the Tories vowed to fix their broken system nearly two years ago.
Frail pensioners are stranded at home without help as cash-strapped councils struggle to get carers out to them.
It is now 700 days since the Tories promised a Green Paper to reform social care funding.
Since then 1.3 million pensioners have developed an “unmet need”, such as being unable to wash or dress, said Age UK. Some 626,701 have had requests for social care refused by their council, and 7,240 have run through life savings to pay for their own care.
Tragically, 54,025 have died waiting for a care package in that time, the charity found. Age UK chief Caroline Abrahams said: “Their final weeks and months might have been more comfortable, and their families’ lives easier, had they been given more support.” The Mirror told yesterday how 600 people a week are quitting their jobs to care for loved ones full-time. State funding for social care has fallen 27% since 2010, leaving 400,000 fewer people receiving it. Our Fair Care for All campaign is battling to end the crisis.
The Green Paper has been delayed repeatedly but is now due this year. Ian Hudspeth of the Local Government Association said every day of delay “is another day people’s lives aren’t being lived to the full”. The Department of Health and Social Care said: “We are committed to ensuring everyone has access to the care and support they need.” CRISIS Our story yesterday
My family makes me feel happy, we like to spend time together