Princess Anne meets staff and volunteers at Citizens Advice Flintshire

Princess Anne visited Flintshire earlier this week to meet staff and volunteers at the Citizens Advice.

The local advice charity was informed of The Princess Royal’s intention to visit earlier in June and used the event to recognise the work of the staff since the onset of the pandemic.

The open air event was greeted with warmth and sunshine as Princess Anne – the Patron of Citizens Advice –  addressed the socially distanced spectators before unveiling a commemorative plaque in the courtyard of the Mold Bureau.

The Princess Royal met the Chief Executive of Flintshire County Council, Colin Everett and Cllr Joe Johnson the council’s chairperson, Cllr Marion Bateman and Bill Bradshaw President of Citizens Advice Flintshire.

CEO, Salli Edwards said, greeted Her Royal Highness and Mr Henry Fetherstonhaugh, Lord-Lieutenant of Clwyd, with a brief tour of the building before introducing them to trustees and staff members.

Salli Edwards: “Naturally, it was an honour to meet The Princess Royal, and to talk about the important work we do here.”

“I thanked her for the visit and especially for showing support to the staff that have done an amazing job maintaining essential advice services during such challenging times”.

As part of her tour, Princess Anne met Mandy Plant, who spoke to her about the importance of raising financial support in the light of the pandemic: “As Patron of the national organisation, Her Royal Highness is only too aware that we are a local charity and that now, more than ever, we need to raise money to support the valuable work we do.”

Paul Bertrand, who works at Citizens Advice is was a “pleasant surprise being in the presence of royalty.”

“Upwards of 40 staff had been invited to the ‘informal gathering’ and plaque unveiling but only a select few were aware of who would be performing the ceremony.”

“It was a real boost to have such an important member of the Royal Family show her support for us and the only disappointment was that due to continuing social distancing rules we could not invite all of our volunteers to join us.” Paul said.