On 17 March 2010, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall visited Szentendre, a picturesque little town just outside Budapest. As part of this royal visit the British Council and Challenge Europe advocates arranged for the Duchess to visit Moricz Zsigmond High School to see first hand the excellent work of advocates engaging young people with environmental issues.

The first part of the programme, involving advocates Andrea Joos and Agnes Vertesi, was a lesson for the school students about environmental issues, primarily focussing on the clean up of the River Thames in London. The Duchess took part in this lesson and offered students and advocates the chance to ask questions about her favourite parts of the river.

The second stage of the event involved another group of advocates, led by Akos K Bago, who have created a picture made of recycled plastic bottle caps. The 4 m² artwork was started by one of the school’s students who had previously won an award for a painting as part of an advocate led art competition. During the visit the Duchess had the honour of finishing the huge picture by dropping the very last caps into the picture frame.

Last but not least the Duchess met with two advocates, Akos Lukacs and Daniel Nemet, and two volunteers from the Szent Istvan University at the mobile Climate Office stand. The advocates brilliantly showcased the facilities of the Climate Office such as measuring carbon footprint, giving out information to the students, creating quiz games and lots more.

The feedback from HRH and the delegation was excellent and all participants and guest praised the advocates’ work and enthusiasm, including the HM British Ambassador.