King Charles III has invited millions of Britons to support causes in their local community on bank holiday Monday as the coronation festivities conclude with the Big Help Out.
The volunteering drive has been billed as a lasting legacy of the crowning of Charles, with tens of thousands registered to attend events nationwide.
The king and queen will not be making any public appearances but other royals will be taking part. The Prince and Princess of Wales will be at a Scout hut in Berkshire, while Princess Anne is at an event in Gloucestershire.
It comes after Sunday night’s coronation concert, in which Prince William paid tribute to his father on stage.
“Pa, we are all so proud of you,” he said in reference to Charles’s 50 years of service as the Prince of Wales.
William added: “As my grandmother said when she was crowned, coronations are a declaration of our hopes for the future. And I know she’s up there, fondly keeping an eye on us. She would be a proud mother.”
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will be visiting the Coptic Orthodox church in London where young volunteers will be hosting a coronation street party. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will take part in a puppy class at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association training centre in Reading.
Senior politicians are also taking part. The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and his wife are helping at a lunch club, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, is manning the phones at an NHS volunteer responders’ programme and the Scottish first minister, Humza Yousaf, is visiting a community larder.
The Big Help Out day is organised by the Together Coalition and partners including the Scouts, the Royal Voluntary Service and faith groups from across the UK.
It will highlight the positive impact volunteering has on communities and encourage people to become volunteers to create a lasting legacy.
On Monday evening from 7.30pm, the BBC TV soap EastEnders will hold a coronation-themed street party in Albert Square hosted by the residents of Walford.
The public have been encouraged to take up hundreds of thousands of volunteering roles on the extra bank holiday with more than 1,500 charities involved. An app has been created to allow people to search for volunteering opportunities, ranging from helping elderly people to working with environmental charities and supporting animal welfare.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “While wholly supportive of the Big Help Out initiatives taking place right across Britain on Monday 7 May, [the King and Queen] will not be attending any events in-person. These will instead be attended by other members of the royal family.”
Queen Camilla is patron of the Royal Voluntary Service charity and has been patron of the Big Lunch initiative since 2013.
The extra bank holiday, which will take place across the UK, caps off a long weekend of celebrations.
