Kate's In Polka-Dots For Family Nurse Partnership Visit

An unannounced engagement for the Duchess of Cambridge this morning in Camberwell, South London, as she paid a visit to Sunshine House Children and Young People’s Health and Development Centre to meet with the Southwark Family Nurse Partnership team.

Kensington Palace said the appearance was organised to "highlight the valuable work" that Family Nurse Partnership do and to further Kate's research and engagement with the Early Years sector. They added: "FNP in Southwark is delivered by Evelina London, of which Her Royal Highness is Patron. As part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Evelina London is a major children’s hospital and provider of community services. From health visitors and school nurses to specialist treatment for children with long-term health conditions, Evelina London’s community services care for children and families across the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark." The Queen passed her patronage of Evelina London to Kate last December.

Following Kate's arrival, there was a very sweet moment when four-year-old Oliver presented the Duchess with a posy. Kate thanked him and asked him a question, he was feeling very shy and turned around toward his mother.

Kate caught up with Oliver and his mother Chloe later on during the visit.

Family Nurse Partnership is a voluntary home visiting programme for first-time young mums and families. It aims to ensure young women have a healthy pregnancy, reach their personal goals and helps to improve their child's health and development.

FPN is underpinned by an internationally recognised evidence base which shows the initiative improves outcomes both in the short and long term. Parents are partnered with a trained family nurse who visits them regularly until their child reaches two.

Kate enjoyed chatting with Amina and her little one Ramira.

More from Evelina London:

'Amina Deen, 23, from Elephant and Castle in south east London, spoke to The Duchess about the care she received. She was supported by the FNP team during the first two years of her three-year-old daughter Ramira’s life.

Amina said: “The Duchess was lovely and down to earth. She was very interested in Ramira and asked lots of questions about the support I received from the Evelina London FNP team and seemed very impressed by the service.

“When I was pregnant with Ramira, my nurse Debbie helped me find suitable housing.  When Ramira was born she would regularly visit us and we attended classes together at my local children’s centre. Debbie has constantly been there for Ramira and me. I feel very thankful for the support I’ve received from the Evelina London FNP team. It’s given me the confidence and knowledge to be an even better parent.”

It's been twelve years since FNP commenced their work in England. In 2017, they marked their tenth anniversary and a number of milestones including: The 1,000,000th FNP visit, The 30,000th FNP baby born, The 950th Family Nurse trained and the 200th supervisor trained.

More on the teams from FNP:

'Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) is delivered in around 80 areas across England. Each local team is made up of specially trained family nurse supervisors, family nurses, and quality support officers.

Family nurse supervisors are experienced and highly skilled health professionals who also receive extensive additional training from the FNP National Unit. They lead the local team: providing supervision to their nurses, incorporating formative, restorative and normative elements, ensuring safeguarding of clients and their children; developing the learning of the nurses in their team; and engage and build positive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. Importantly, they also carry a small caseload of clients.

Like supervisors, family nurses are experienced, qualified nurses who undergo extensive additional training. Family nurses visit their clients at home, following the FNP visit guidelines and using the programme theories, their learning, professional knowledge and judgment to individualise them to the strengths and challenges of each family, apportioning time across defined programme domains. They carry a maximum caseload of 25 clients.

Quality support officers are responsible for a wide range of administrative and data management functions. They work with the supervisor to ensure all client data it is up to date, and that relevant reports are compiled on time. Quality support officers also create and manage resources and work directly with a range of FNP stakeholders.'  

Rebecca English reports Kate talked about how quickly children grow up and said she can't believe George is six already.

Kate with nurses and representatives from the partnership.

The Duchess met mothers who have completed the programme and discussed how the additional support helped them and their children.

Kate heard about the strategic direction and development of the FNP programme in England from Ailsa Swarbrick, Director of the FNP National Unit.

Jane Powell, Evelina London Director of Nursing said:

“It was fantastic to welcome our Patron, The Duchess of Cambridge, back to Evelina London to meet our Family Nurse Partnership team. They do a truly fantastic job supporting young parents to provide the very best care possible to their children.

“We are at the heart of our local communities in Lambeth and Southwark, giving children the very best start in life. We care for children, young people and their families at home and close to home, in clinics, health centres, schools and nurseries. 

“This year is extra special for us as we have been celebrating our 150th anniversary. Our birthday wish is to be there for even more children and young people who need us.”

A nice roundup video with great footage of Kate meeting Oliver.

The Duchess opted for a stylish professional look today - choosing a chic polka dot blouse and high-waisted cropped black trousers.

Caroline Parr swiftly identified Kate's blouse as the Equipment Slim Signature Polka-Dot Shirt. The £270 piece is described as: "Cut from lightweight washed-silk, it has a slightly loose fit and curved hem that looks especially cool styled half-tucked."

The midnight blue and white washed-silk piece is available at Equipment, ShopBop and Nordstrom.

Caroline also suggests Kate wore the £29.99 ZARA Culottes. The high waisted, wide-leg pair with size zip fastening appear to be a match.

Kate wore her trusty Gianvito Rossi Piper block heel shoes.

Kate accessorised with the same gold drop earrings she wore last Tuesday for her visit to RHS Wisley.

It's been widely suggested they are a sold out £5 Accessorize pair. They are incredibly similar, however Susan from What Kate Wore correctly noted subtle differences in the metalwork and spotted more intricate wirework in Kate's pair in her post last week.

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If you were tuning into Blue Peter today, you might have seen a familiar Duchess... Footage from Kate's visit to RHS Wisley last week featured with an update on the competition Kate launched on the show in June to encourage children to get involved in Back To Nature by designing a sculpture to feature in the permanent garden.

The Duchess of Cambridge joined @CBBC’s #BluePeter to unveil the winner of their Royal Garden Competition 🍃 at @RHSWisley – congratulations Jessica on your winning design! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/qTW0sFfE89

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) September 19, 2019

The winning submission is a beautiful butterfly sculpture designed by Jessica. It's made of wood and recycled metal and covered in clematis flowers.

Kate with Ben from the Royal Horticultural Society and RHS young gardener of the year George Hassall at Kensington Palace judging the entries. Kate's wearing her pink LK Bennett Madison dress.

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In other news, Kensington Palace announced an engagement for William and Kate next Thursday:

'The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit Birkenhead on Thursday 26th September to attend the naming ceremony of the UK’s new polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough. Before the ceremony, Their Royal Highnesses will undertake a short tour of the ship.

Owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the RRS Sir David Attenborough will enable world-leading research to be carried out in Antarctica and the Arctic over the next 25 to 30 years. Studying these remote regions plays a crucial role in allowing us to understand the changes in our planet’s oceans, marine life and climate systems. The ship will be available year-round to the UK’s research community.'

The Court Circular notes Kate attended two Royal Foundation meetings over the past week and both William and Kate met with Love Actually director Richard Curtis separately last week. There's whispers we might see them team up for a mental health initiative. A royal source told People they "discussed their shared interest in mental wellbeing and supporting families".