A catch up with “the boss” proved an exciting day out of the office for Etc. King’s Trust team members Gillian Hutchinson and Nathan James.
The pair were invited, along with former student, Noel, to meet King Charles during his and Queen Camilla’s recent visit to Middlesbrough.
“We were presented to His Majesty the King by Jonathan Townsend, the King’s Trust’s chief executive officer,” said head of department Gillian.
The Royal visit took place at the International Centre where King Charles and Queen Camilla met with representatives of local community groups, charities, voluntary services and Cleveland Police, along with local children taking part in crafts and activities.
It was all part of a royal visit to Middlesbrough, King Charles’ first official visit to the area since his coronation.
There to represent the Trust’s work in the town, Gillian said: “Standing in the lineup we got the chance to briefly chat to the King, I did a little curtsy and then turned to see Camilla playing table tennis behind me.
“Nathan talked about projects the Middlesbrough Team has worked on alongside the Chris Cave Foundation around tackling knife crime.”
Nathan was also presented to King Charles at Buckingham Palace last year after the Etc. Middlesbrough Team was announced winner of the JD Foundation Community Impact Award at the then Prince’s Trust and TK Maxx and Homesense Awards.
The accolade was recognition of a community project in which the team worked with the Chris Cave Foundation and local artists, Illumination Art, to create a mural in Redcar raising awareness of knife crime and highlighting the dangers.
Proud to be able to speak directly to the King about the team’s achievements during the official proceedings in Middlesbrough, Gillian said: “It was lovely to be included, and we felt honoured to be there representing the Education Training Collective and The King’s Trust.
Gillian, who has seen and grabbed the odd word with the former Prince of Wales at events before, in his role as founder of the Trust, and was even on the guest list for Harry and Meghan’s wedding and the King’s coronation concert, said: “It’s the first time I have ever been presented to him officially and had to think... do I curtsy?!”
