The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Royal help for crew on a challenge
The Prince of Wales has joined the crew of a team of Royal Navy submariners who have taken on a Transatlantic rowing challenge to raise money to support the mental health and wellbeing of their colleagues.
William, Commander-in-Chief of the Submarine Service, has released a YouTube video of his visit to the members of the HMS Oardacious crew as they took part in a training session on Dorney Lake, Buckinghamshire.
HMS Oardacious was set up in 2019 to fundraise through submariners taking on the challenge of rowing across the Atlantic with £110,000 being raised so far.
In January 2020, four serving Royal Navy submariners became the fastest military team in history to row across any ocean, spending 37 days, 6 hours and 40 minutes crossing the North Atlantic to reach Antigua as part of the annual Atlantic Challenge.
In the short film, William meets co-founders, Lieutenant Commander Callum Fraser and Lieutenant Commander Hugo Mitchell-Heggs, as well as Chief Petty Officer Jon Norfolk who took part in the 2022 team and Lieutenant Isobel Rawlinson who is looking to captain an all-female team in 2024.
During the film, William says: “Understanding our support networks is crucial because a lot of people don’t have those support networks and being able to form close bonds and realise that the only way we are going to get through all of this is to support each other and pull each other through.”
Meanwhile, The King has said he is “inspired” by the way the Church of Scotland and other faith communities have provided care to the poor and asylum seekers.
A letter from Charles was read out at the church’s general assembly gathering in Edinburgh, the first since Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
The letter said: “We are very conscious at this time of the pain for so many people across the world who are suffering from the vagaries of war and poverty.
We are, as ever, inspired by the way in which the Church of Scotland, with other churches and faith communities, has expressed the Gospel imperative to the poor and made the care of refugees and asylum seekers such a priority.”