Streetlife was very pleased to host a Royal visit from Princess Anne on Friday 8th November 2013. Streetlife provide placements to volunteers from Lattitude Global Volunteering of which Princess Anne is the patron. We currently host volunteers from Ghana and Australia.
Princess Anne heard about the work Lattitude volunteers do in Blackpool, Streetlife’s lifeskills programme and Lattitude’s Adrian Evand Award. HRH gave a speech stating that projects such as Streetlife are “fundamentally required to a town like Blackpool. Many young people are seen as the problem not the solution, when in reality they are the solution”.
Each one of the sixty guests had the opportunity to meet Her Royal Highness and explain how they contribute to Streetlife and/or Lattitude. She was able to meet young people who access support from Streetlife as well as volunteers and staff.
At the end of the visit, Jayde (a Streetlife service-user) presented Her Royal Highness with a gift. This was a photograph taken by a young person as part of Streetlife’s photography project “Hidden”.
We all felt that the visit was a huge success. We were able to showcase the work that Streetlife does and celebrate the partnership we have with Lattitude. Gordon Marsden MP said “It is great Princess Anne came to see the superb work that Streetlife are doing.” Jane Hugo, Streetlife CEO, was thrilled that Princess Anne was so enthusiastic about the work of Streetlife.