Princess Anne thanks community support group at Droitwich Rugby Club

Princess Anne visited the club to hear about all of the details around the successful ongoing partnership, and how the Rugby Club and the Community Voluntary Service had adapted to offer valuable services within the community.

Anne heard how members of Droitwich Rugby Club and Droitwich Community Voluntary Service supported their community during the pandemic. (@OfficialDRFC/Twitter)

Anne heard about the various programmes in the Droitwich community. (@OfficialDRFC/Twitter)

Anne, 70, heard how over 90 people had given up their time to ensure that the local community of Droitwich and the surrounding areas were covered, and people in the local area received the help and support they badly needed.

Droitwich Community Voluntary Service took calls and requests from those in need while Droitwich RFC repurposed the club house to allow them to purchase, source, package and distribute the food parcels to the local community.

The Princess Royal heard from the Community Voluntary Service how food parcels were developed which would cover the basic needs using dried and tinned products, adding in other donated goods when received.

As word spread about the scheme and the numbers kept increasing, the contents were changed to include enough ingredients for five meals for five days. One of the volunteers designed recipes to match the contents of the food parcels, giving people ideas as to what meals they could make.

After the first lockdown re-opening, the club started distributing free breakfast sandwiches to all areas of the community. The service soon became an in-person event, where people were invited to the club for a sit down socially-distanced breakfast, particularly those who had to shield were allowed out.

Members of the Community Voluntary Service told the mother-of-two how the aim of the in-person service became a way to get the shielding groups back out into communities, but in a safe and staggered manner. This gave the shielding community not only a first visit out of the house for many months, but also provided an opportunity to discuss their experiences with other individuals who had been through the same circumstances.

Brigadier Roger Brunt, Worcestershire’s Vice Lord-Lieutenant, said: “All the volunteers at the Glyn Mitchell Memorial Ground were thrilled to see HRH and warmly welcomed her interest and encouragement of their fantastic efforts for their community over the past 12 months.”

Tonia Enderbury, from Droitwich CVS added: “It was a huge honour and privilege to meet HRH and for our partnership to be recognised. With a small team we have been able to support thousands of residents, not just with food parcels, but prescription deliveries, transport to medical appointments and well-being bags.

“It has been wonderful to see how the community has come together and we are proud to be at the centre of this.”

Princess Anne has made a number of appearances since her father’s funeral, which took place at St George’s Chapel on 17th April.

Last week Anne visited three hospitals in Gloucestershire, where she opened a garden to commemorate the lives lost to coronavirus at one of the hospitals. The Queen’s only daughter spoke to frontline NHS staff about their work during the pandemic, at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Wotton Lawn Hospital, and Cheltenham General Hospital.