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The Prince visited the Child Bereavement UK offices in Widnes

Prince William visited Widnes today to speak to teenagers about dealing with bereavement during a visit to a charity. William has been a patron for Child Bereavement UK since 2009.

William spoke to teenagers from the charity’s group for young people on Wednesday, February 5. He also had a private meeting with bereaved parents during his time at the offices before meeting with staff, volunteers and fundraisers.

Speaking to the group, he asked if they found it difficult at the beginning to talk about how they felt. Rebecca, 17, who lost her dad, said: “I didn’t really know how I felt because it was very sudden.”

She said the charity has helped her direct the way she feels about the loss, as the Prince told her “sometimes the hardest thing is finding the words for how you feel. It’s crucial those first few years particularly that you have support like this.”

15-year-old Meika told William she had stopped going to school after her nan died. He supported her as he told her: “The mind gets focused on one thing, doesn’t it? It’s very difficult to be able to do school and normal life.”

During the visit to Widnes he also met 16-year-old boxer Clayton, from Carlton in Nottingham, who began fundraising for the charity after his coach Tommy Thompson used the service following his daughter’s death. When Clayton asked William if he liked boxing, he replied: “No, I don’t mind throwing a few punches around but not at your level. It’s exhausting as well.”

The teenagers made memory jars during William’s visit and filled them with salt in colours which reminded them of their loved ones. Before leaving, William was shown the charity’s “Before I Die” wall made up of messages from people detailing what they wanted to achieve before they died.

Win the Fortnite cash cup.” After reading some of the other notes, he said: “It’s very interesting, isn’t it? Fantastic. There’s lots of family, isn’t there? Family mentioned all the way through there.”

Executive manager Sue Randall said: “The prince has been involved since 2009 and he’s been brilliant as patron. He’s done all sorts of things for us and is always very helpful and tries to do as much as he can around our work. It gives us a profile by having such an amazing patron and personally he is very in tune with what we do.”