Maltese-run charity picked by Royal couple

To help make this wish a reality, the couple have organised a fund incorporating 26 charities from across the UK, New Zealand, Canada and Australia.

One of these charities is Greenhouse, which was co-founded by its Maltese-born Chief Executive Michael de Giorgio.

The charity specialises in empowering young people in London’s disadvantaged communities to realise their potential through high quality, intensive sport and dance programmes delivered by inspirational coaches. Youths in the communities that Greenhouse specialises in would not have that many opportunities to pursue performing arts and sports beyond the school curriculum – and Greenhouse aims to fill that void.

Founded in 2002 by de Giorgio, Greenhouse originally ran holiday programmes using the sports facilities at top London private schools for the benefit of young people from less advantaged communities near these schools.

It quickly became clear that the young people needed access to full time programmes delivered in their own communities, so Greenhouse moved to deliver programmes in schools and sport centres within London’s disadvantaged communities.

The organisation has now grown to run 26 school programmes and eight community programmes across London, providing 10,000 young people with an average of six hours per week of coaching and mentorship last year.

“We were given a couple of weeks notice that we had been chosen before the announcement was made, which gave us time to prepare,” Graeme Duncan, head of development at Greenhouse said about being chosen for the Royal couple’s fund. “Keeping such great news a secret for two weeks was a great challenge!”

Duncan also points out that what distinguishes Greenhouse from other charities working in the same field.

“What separates Greenhouse from many sports and arts organisations is the intensity of the organisation’s work with the young people and the focus on using sport and dance to improve their aspiration, ability and achievement inside the sports hall, the classroom and beyond.

“As a result, our coaches spend an average of six hours per week with our young people, helping them to improve their outlook, their engagement with their education and community, ultimately empowering the young people to achieve their potential,” Duncan said.

While Greenhouse have prioritised their activities in the past (leaving little time to promote themselves and raise their profile), Duncan welcomes the increased exposure that inevitably comes with a Royal endorsement, while also pointing out that such initiatives augur well for the couple’s commitment to charity work.

“This announcement is a fantastic endorsement of our work and will only help to improve the profile of the organisation. We will have to wait and see how generous the public will be in donating to the fund and supporting ourselves and the 25 other charities.

However, with this initiative, the royal couple have shown the level of social entrepreneurialism that will be required to tackle the most pressing social problems. With their support, these important charities will be given the opportunity to grow at a time when our work is more important than ever.”

For more information about Greenhouse, log on to http://www.greenhousecharity.org/.

For information about the fund visit http://www.royalweddingcharityfund.org/.