Prince Harry recently sat down for a virtual chat with one of his charities, WellChild. He kicked off the meeting by answering a few questions about how he and Meghan are doing as they hunker down in Los Angeles with their 11-month-old, Archie.
It sounds like they are having a pretty amazing time. "There’s a h*ll of a lot of positives that are happening at the same time and being able to have family time — so much family time — that you almost think, ‘Do I feel guilty for having so much family time?’" He added, "You’ve got to celebrate those moments where you are just on the floor rolling around in hysterics. Inevitably, half an hour later, maybe a day later, there’s going to be something that you have to deal with and there’s no way you can run away from it."
And really, that's exactly the kind of spirit a lot of us should try to carry these days: Enjoy the happy times while you have them.
Harry has been a patron of WellChild for 10 years and has a strong relationship with the organization and its team. He told them, "It’s very nice to see the familiar faces on here," and then added, "The resilience and the strength that you guys have is absolutely incredible. You must never, ever, ever, ever forget that. Of course, there are going to be hard days — I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it is for you guys."
Then he added a line that parents everywhere will definitely relate to: "Having one kid at 11 months old is enough!"
Harry then asked the group how they were coping with the health situation that the entire world is contending with. He heard about challenges that are facing the families that WellChild works with, like not being able to access the medical care they need.
The team asked Harry how he was doing, and he had a pretty thoughtful response. "Not too bad. I think it’s certainly strange times — everyone is experiencing the same thing in a very unique way. But the longer this goes on for, I imagine the harder it is for each and every one of you."
You could also tell that boosting the spirits of the team, and of anyone watching, was important to him. He added, "It’s all about morale. If morale is up, if you wake up in the morning and go, ‘Right, new day, got my whole family here, what are we going to do?’ Of course, there’s that fear of what might happen, but there’s so much that’s out of our control and all of the sudden we’ve realized how small we are in the grand scheme of things."
He spent a lot of time speaking to WellChild nurse Rachel Gregory. She explained that several of the children and families the organization assists are struggling right now. "These children need ’round the clock care, 24 hours a day. You can’t expect parents to do that on their own. They have to open their doors at this vulnerable time to external carers, which is a huge concern for them."
Harry also spoke to Leanne Cooper, who is the mom of a 13-year-old whom the organization works with. She said, "There is a lot of information out there, but not a lot for vulnerable families and certainly not for children with complex medical needs. If we’re in a position where carers can’t come to work because they might be symptomatic, there is no way we would survive when Sophie needs care seven nights a week, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. It is terrifying."
The conversation really puts into harsh focus how this health crisis is impacting families in different ways. While it's hard for a lot of us to stay home and keep social distancing, it sounds like many of the families WellChild works with are facing much larger struggles as they work to keep their children healthy.
Colin Dyer, the organization's CEO, also added that "basic supplies are needed from food, to cleaning products. A lot of families are finding it difficult getting themselves included on ‘vulnerable’ lists. These families are always isolated and hidden. Now they are more isolated and more hidden than ever before. Getting recognition that they are among the most vulnerable people that we’ve got in this country is really tough because the focus just doesn’t seem to be on families like this."
The organization is also aware of the urgent need for funding and is looking for new ways to secure it. "On the one hand, WellChild and lots of other charities are in the middle of trying to adapt to help the very people we are here to help, but on the other hand we are in survival mode. We are trying to make sure that we can access as much funding as we can so that on the other side of this, we are still here, because families will need us more than ever."
Harry closed out the meeting hoping that Britain's government will hear what the families and the team at WellChild are up against. "This is hard on everyone, but it is especially hard on you," he said. "I know that WellChild are doing everything they can to support you. Hopefully, through this video we can make it more clear and obvious to Government and everybody else that you are in the ‘vulnerable’ bracket and WellChild needs more help."
He added, "It is really nice to see you all smiling and happy. Keep going, keep the morale up, keep busy, keep being creative, dare yourself to try new hobbies and I hope to see you all again very, very soon!"
