THE PRINCESS Royal has praised the work of volunteers throughout the pandemic during a visit to Sussex.
Princess Anne met volunteers from Citizens Advice during a visit to Horsham on Friday, September 24.
The charity provides free advice to those with issues including debt, housing, homelessness and employment.
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During her visit, the princess spoke with volunteers about their work in the community, challenges created by Covid-19 and how they overcame those barriers.
Citizens Advice chief executive for West Sussex Emma Cross said it was a pleasure to discuss how the charity helped the community access food and energy throughout the pandemic.
“We were honoured to have the Princess Royal visit our Horsham office, and being able to discuss the hard work of our staff and volunteers and the positive impact we have had on our community,” she said.
“We are so grateful for her support and are proud to have continued to be there for West Sussex residents through these challenging past 18 months.
“Whilst we have changed how we run our service, we remain committed to being there for everyone.”
The princess, a patron of Citizens Advice, was welcomed by Emma, the chairwoman of trustees Irene Campbell, deputy lieutenant of West Sussex Lord Egremont and chairman of Horsham District Council David Skipp.
She heard how in order for the charity to maintain their service, they had to immobilise their workforce and begin remote working.
Irene Campbell said the visit was a “wonderful spotlight on the work that we do”.
In 2020 to 2021, the Citizens Advice supported over 30,000 clients through almost 100,000 problems.
As part of the tour, the Princess also met the community engagement team and learned how they develop new services, improve access to information and create forums to share feedback.
Barry Carter, a supervisor in Horsham, said the visit was “fantastic”.
“It was an opportunity for the brilliant volunteers to get recognition for all the hard work they have endured throughout the pandemic,” he said.
“She kindly told one of our receptionists that she is an important part of the service, as this is the first port of call for all clients and if they didn't like the receptionist then they wouldn't use the service, which I think made her day.”
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