Prince William fulfils six-year-old Coventry promise on visit to West Midlands

The Prince of Wales fulfilled a promise made six years ago in Coventry on a visit to the West Midlands. William and Kate visited a cafe at Coventry Cathedral run by homelessness and addiction charity Betel back in 2018 and, at the time, promised to return when the charity had set up its UK headquarters.

This week the Prince visited Betel UK at their employment skills training and community outreach centre in Aston and met a former rough sleeper, Becky Ellis, who suffered with addiction for 15 years.

It was a double celebration for Becky as the day also marked her 34th birthday. William listened as Becky told how she had been homeless for 10 years, four of which she was on the streets, and had been in addiction for 15 years when she found Betel.

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She had experienced multiple prison stints, lost custody of her children and was battling mental health issues, but expressed to the prince that the charity had "completely changed my life".

Becky, who now holds a position as a catering manager for the charity, shared: "Now I've got my children back in my life, I have a husband and we have a new baby."

"We stayed on to help the charity and assist others in similar situations to walk through the door."

"The beautiful thing about this place is that the people who help you have been through it so it helps you to see if they can change, so can I. It gives you hope."

Reflecting on the prince's visit, she said: "He was really lovely and down to earth and was inspired. He listened to my story and asked a lot of questions, he was really nice."

During his visit, which included a tour of the charity's onsite salon, theatre and cafe, the prince met the youngest person in the building 11-day-old Harry Yoder, and his parents Evan and Cambry, missionaries from the US who are working with Betel's residents.

Evan shared: "He was asking us how and why we got to be here. He was very normal. He is a dad so he wished us good luck with getting sleep with Harry, who is the newest person he met today. It's the other Harry and William pairing."

Kelly Williams, a mother-of-seven who battled drug and alcohol addiction for over 18 years, described meeting William as "surreal", likening him to "like an old mate".

She conveyed: "At first I was so nervous, but he was so easygoing and you could tell he was there to listen, which was beautiful."

"He made us all feel really comfortable and it was like speaking to an old mate."

"He said it was fascinating and he wanted to know more, I really wish I did have more time as there's so much more I could have told him."

Kelly opened up about her devastating past - both her parents were addicts and she had tragically lost the five children she had at that point.

She mentioned: "I was so broken, in my addiction. It was very lonely, very chaotic and quite violent at times and I had to fend for myself a lot. I felt invisible at times."

"When I came here in 2017, it really saved my life and it saved my children's lives too as Betel opened the door for them to come and live here with me. It was extraordinary."

"I have learned a lot of skills here. I have real, genuine friendships, which is something that I was lacking before because of a lack of trust if I couldn't even trust my parents, who could I trust? ".

"Coming here and being allowed to heal and break free from my old life and now have a new life is just incredible and I'm so grateful."

"I now have a wonderful husband and we have our son. He has a son as well and we all live together. I never thought this would happen."

"I always thought there must be more to life than the lifestyle I was living, I just didn't know where to get the help."

"I have a future now, which is incredible. I couldn't ask for anything more."

The prince described the stories of those who had transformed their lives as "powerful stuff".

Mary-Alice Martin, one of the directors at Betel, expressed her joy at having the prince officially open their new building, calling it an "overwhelming privilege".

She shared: "It makes me want to cry. The timing is amazing, we just finished the building and to have him here to see it will give good exposure to what we do here to help the homeless, the addicted and the marginalised and we're hoping more people will come in through that."

"He is so lovely, so easy to talk to and I feel like we all could have talked to him all day. He was so interested in our people and the situations they have been in."

Before leaving, the prince took a group photo with volunteers, service users and staff, amidst applause and cheers from the crowd.

The charity, which opened its first residence in Birmingham 28 years ago, now operates 13 recovery residences in 11 urban areas across England and Scotland, including Nottingham, Manchester and Derby.

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