Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Edinburgh, kicked off the launch of the 25th annual Number Day with a rousing game of crazy golf.

Taking place at Legoland Adventure Golf, the event brought together celebrities, schoolchildren, and the Duchess to support the NSPCC's initiative.

Number Day, scheduled for February 7, 2025, encourages students to engage with mathematics through fundraising activities, raising essential funds for services such as Childline.

The Duchess, an NSPCC patron, met and interacted with schoolchildren from the Datchet St Mary’s CofE primary school and Trinity School in Croydon who are set to take part in the 2025 Numbers Day.

She also played a few rounds of mini-golf with the kids, who described her as ‘lovely and very polite’.

The schoolkids from the Datchet school were given a significant role in the day when Poppy Collins and Laure Barras presented the Duchess with a Lego Flower Bouquet.

Sir Peter Wanless, CEO of the NSPCC, said: "We were delighted to have HRH the Duchess of Edinburgh launch Number Day at the exciting venue that is Legoland Adventure Golf.

"Number Day – which has raised over £3.8 million since its inception – is a great way for children to raise funds for NSPCC services, be creative with mathematics, and, most importantly, have plenty of fun."

The event also featured speakers such as Ramesh Ganeson, divisional director at Legoland Windsor Resort, and financial expert Emmanuel Asuquo, who shared his childhood fear of maths and encouraged breaking down negativity around the subject.

Mr Ganeson highlighted the innovative educational work at the retail park, including teaching maths through robotics.

He said: "Investment in children’s learning is an integral part of our activities at the Legoland Windsor Resort and we are delighted to partner with the NSPCC to launch its 25th Number Day.

"We are immensely proud of our curriculum-led school workshops, which welcome over 15,000 students to the Legoland Windsor Resort every year."

Emmanuel Asuquo, who grew up in East London emphasised the importance of being ‘number confident’.

“I think it’s so important that kids are number confident so that they can make good financial choices in the future.

“I know growing up how difficult numbers were and how hard money was and I saw people around me making bad financial decisions because they didn’t have the education.

“I thought to myself, rather than speaking to adults about money and try and help them change their habits, why not get to kids before that so that they can build better relationships with numbers and money.

“The Ducchess of Edinburgh is really championing finance and money and kids learning about it at a young age. She was saying that she taught her kids about it and it’s great to have someone like that putting out the word about the importance of numbers.”

Guests had the opportunity to meet renowned mathematician Johnny Ball and 2023 Great British Bake Off finalist Dr Josh Smalley.

Mr Ball added: “It’s lovely to have the Duchess of Edinburgh on hand. It makes it very special. She’s a mean player of crazy golf, she really is very good. We played about three holes together and everyone she beat me

"Last year we got 7,500 schools involved and this year we want to do better than that. It really helps them with their maths and we have loads of fun ideas.”

To mark the event's 25th anniversary, the Duchess was presented with a cake by Dr Josh Smalley.

The money raised from Number Day supports vital services, such as our school assembly, Speak Out Stay Safe, which helps children understand abuse in all forms and educates them on who to turn to for support.