THE Duchess of Cornwall is to meet children and young adults at Oxford’s Helen and Douglas House hospices this week after a personal request to staff.

The Duchess became patron of the hospices two years ago and first visited the Magdalen Road site in 2007, spending hours chatting to staff and patients.

On Wednesday morning, she will also meet staff at homelessness charity Emmaus, of which she is also patron.

Tom Hill, the hospices’ chief executive, said: “We‘re absolutely thrilled she’s paying a return visit to both Helen and Douglas House this week.

“She has indicated that she wants to get to know the charity better and she wants to come along and meet the families who use the hospice on her visit.

‘We’re very much looking forward to her visit.

“This was a personal request from Her Royal Highness to give her the opportunity to meet and chat informally with Helen and Douglas House children, young adults and families.”

At Christmas in 2007 and 2008, the Duchess invited children from Helen and Douglas House to decorate her husband Prince Charles’s Christmas tree in London’s Clarence House.

In March last year, Prince Charles and the Duchess attended a concert by the London Chamber Orchestra in London, to celebrate the hospice’s 25th anniversary.

During her visit to the hospice, the Duchess is expected to have lunch with children, young adults and their families.

On the same day, she will officially open the Emmaus Oxford Community, in Oxford Road, Cowley.

Emmaus offers homeless men and women a home and work within a supportive environment.

Residents work full-time to collect, refurbish and sell donated furniture and household goods.

Funding for the project has come from a range of sources, including members of the public, charitable trusts and the Government.

The community has already opened its doors to its first residents and is running a secondhand furniture shop on the Northway estate.

Director Wyon Stansfeld said: “Having Her Royal Highness’s support means so much to all of us.

“Marking the opening in this way underlines what a significant achievement it is and allows us to say how grateful we are to the many people who have helped to make it happen.”

The Emmaus movement is 60 years old and spans 40 countries.

There are 19 Emmaus communities in the UK, with others in development.