Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester visited the Isle of Wight on an official engagement yesterday (Wednesday), flying in on The King’s helicopter to meet a variety of local organisations and to officially open the Isle of Wight Ambulance Station’s new building.
The Duchess touched down in the West Wight at 11:00 where she was greeted by Lord Lieutenant Susie Sheldon ahead of a visit to West Wight Sports and Community Centre. She met with the West Wight Dementia Friendly Choir, which is made up of people living with dementia, their family members and carers.
One of the main visits of the day was to Home-Start IOW in Newport, where Her Royal Highness spoke of her huge admiration for the work of the charity’s volunteers. The Duchess was accompanied by Deputy Lieutenant Kate Collins who introduced the charity’s patron Judi Griffin, Chair of Trustees Karen Rivlin and Home-Start IOW Manager Alison Griffiths.
After a tour of the charity’s Newport office, The Duchess of Gloucester sat down for a roundtable discussion with staff, trustees and volunteers. The group covered topics including the isolation felt by some families living on the Island; the increasing number of new parents experiencing anxiety and the important role of Home-Start volunteers in giving a calm influence and helping hand when needed.
Before leaving she was presented with a handmade teddy bear, knitted for Home-Start IOW and an enamel Home-Start badge which she proudly pinned to her jacket.
Stacey Gearing, Home-Start IOW Trustee told The Duchess of Gloucester how she’d been referred to Home-Start 5 years ago by her health visitor and was now working as a volunteer and trustee. She said:
“I’m very lucky to be part of Home-Start as a parent voice as when I had my twins five years ago Home-Start was there to help me out, so I’m here now to give back what I received.
“I really don’t think I’d be where I am today without the help I was given.”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OyovE1Z57g
At St Mary’s Hospital, The Duchess officially opened the newly-built ambulance station, taking a guided tour of the facility and meeting operational staff and teams behind the running of the service.
Darren Cattell, Chief Executive said:
“We are honoured to welcome Her Royal Highness to our Ambulance Service to open this fantastic new facility and to meet some of our Ambulance staff. The new station and all the improvements that have been made will make such a difference to our people and our service, and will ensure our Ambulance service is resilient for the future to continue providing a high-quality urgent and emergency service to our Island community.”
The day ended with a flight out of Sandown Airport back to the mainland.
free day out lunch paid by the islands tax payers
Sorry still don’t know who she is , apart from using the cost of a helicopter to get here !!!!!
Wouldn’t know her if I walked past her !!!!!?
Helicopter is one of the Royal Flight.
And after her visit…. nothing has changed except we are all out of pocket again supporting a visit from another national leech.
Never heard of her and don’t recognise the face either.
Her royal Highness the duchess of where now? Never heard of her! Is she another state sponsored lazy sh!te like the rest of them? It’s no wonder there’s a cost of living crisis, paying for her to come here and ponse about!
Very green!! Wonder how much that helicopter trip cost? Ffs
Proberly cheaper and more reliable then the ferries lol
Someone’s having a field day with the thumbs down lol !!!!!