Charity partner Carla Whalen has been interviewed on BBC News on 23 December 2024, where, as Chair of the trustees of The Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation, she commented on the King’s decision to record this year’s Christmas speech at the Chapel. This marks the first time in over two decades that a Christmas broadcast has been recorded outside a Royal residence. The Fitzrovia Chapel, located near Oxford Street in London, was formerly part of the Middlesex Hospital. Today, the Chapel is a registered charity, operating without public subsidy, and serves as a cultural space for health and wellbeing. Carla said that the King chose to record his message in a location with a connection to healthcare, one that is actively used by the local community.
With the particular year that the family has had, the Chapel’s connection to the hospital and the wider healthcare profession—the medical profession—is what made it the choice for them, but it’s also its life now as a charity in the local community. So, it is open to community groups: we have local choirs, we have festivals that happen in the local community and events happen here, and so it’s very much rooted in the community now.”
The segment can be viewed at the 33-minute mark in the episode dated 23 December 2024, available online on the BBC website here.
Carla Whalen is in the charity and not for profit team, specialising in employment and data protection law and advising charities and not for profits with people issues, including employee, volunteer, trustee, and member & beneficiary concerns. She is Chair of The Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation.
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