Duchess of Edinburgh visits charity after voicing key concerns about Sudan conflict

Sophie was given a first glimpse of The Lighthouse's temporary home while their current space is under redevelopment.

Speaking with staff and volunteers over a cup of tea, the duchess heard about their exciting plans for the upcoming year.

They discussed the wider scheme The Lighthouse has in mind as Woking's High Street continues to be redeveloped.

The charity currently has four locations set up in Woking, Barnsbury, Aldershot and Guildford.

Sophie took the opportunity to thank the staff for the vital work they do for the local community.

The Duchess of Edinburgh's visit came as she delivered a powerful appeal for the world to turn its attention to Sudan as the devastating conflict reached a grim milestone of 1,000 days.

In a piece written for The Telegraph, the royal described the crisis as "the world's most severe humanitarian crisis" and urged global reflection on the scale of suffering that has unfolded largely unnoticed.

"As the world embarks on a new year, we are met with a stark and terrible milestone: 1,000 days of conflict in Sudan," she wrote.

The duchess highlighted that this moment calls for reflection and careful thought, not only due to the significant suffering involved but also because the catastrophe has unfolded with surprisingly little attention from the international community.

Sophie described her experience about a year ago at Sudan's border, where she watched a continuous stream of tired people crossing into Chad, either on foot or in donkey-drawn carts.

"In the calm of that moment, I shuddered to imagine what these exhausted, traumatised people had experienced and seen, having fled their towns and the brutality of raging militias," she wrote.

Sophie observed that those who arrived at the Chadian border town of Adre were fortunate, as they encountered relative safety with local residents and aid organisations offering vital supplies such as food, water, and shelter.

The influx of refugees has transformed Adre dramatically, with its population surging from 40,000 to more than 200,000 as Sudanese civilians have escaped the violence engulfing their homeland.

During her visit to the Adre transit camp, the royal heard devastating testimonies of loss and survival from those who had fled the violence.

She encountered young children whose entire families had been slaughtered, mothers who had witnessed their husbands and sons being killed, and women forced into sexual exploitation simply to obtain food and water.

The duchess observed that even those who manage to escape continue living in terror of being killed.

She emphasised that emergency aid alone cannot fully resolve the scale of the crisis, since humanitarian agencies are overwhelmed by the large numbers of displaced individuals they are trying to support.

Sophie called for urgent action to end the conflict, enabling Sudanese families to return home and rebuild their lives in safety.

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