Anne easy guest

A crowd of royal fans and well-wishers turned out in the High Street on Monday to greet her when she arrived at the town hall at 1pm.

The Princess, who is president of the National Association of Victim Support Schemes, launched Victim Support Wiltshire's new service for witnesses giving evidence in magistrates' courts.

She drove herself to Chippenham in a Range Rover, and drew up in front of the town hall. She stepped out to the cheers of people waiting in the High Street, many of whom were waving flags.

Lucy Craig and Imogen Newton, both aged three and from Chippenham, presented her with posies as she walked to the town hall steps.

Mums Jackie Craig and Sue Newton said they were delighted the princess received the gifts. "We had flowers for the Queen when she visited Chippenham, but she never reached us in the High Street, so this helps make up for it," said Mrs Newton.

The Princess was welcomed to the town hall by town clerk Laurie Brown, the Mayor and Mayoress of Chippenham, Coun Richard and Karin Meek.

She was escorted upstairs where Francis Wakem, chair of the board of trustees for Victim Support Wiltshire, made a welcome speech.

"It is a great honour for Victim Support Wiltshire to welcome you to our scheme," he said.

"We are privileged that you have been able to include this visit within your demanding schedule."

A gathering of Victim Support Wiltshire volunteers and workers listened to a presentation by Kim Swinden, senior co-ordinator, and her staff team, outlining the work of the service.

Princess Anne then addressed the assembly, extending her thanks for the presentation.

She praised the group for all its efforts in setting up the new service.

She said that its success would mean plenty more work in the future.

"Without its volunteers, the service would not exist," she said.

"To have volunteers come forward makes such a difference, and I have to say it is because they are volunteers that it makes a difference.

"They extend the hand of friendship and a listening ear because they want to and that makes a difference to the user."

She said the success of the service had its drawback leading to increased demand, and requiring more work.

"Thank you for rising to the challenge of the magistrates' courts.

"But also for being ready to take on the challenge that will follow from being such a success," she said.

Afterwards the Princess Royal shared a buffet lunch with volunteers and staff from Victim Support Wiltshire.

Royal chat with pupils and CCTV centre tour

PRINCESS Anne was welcomed by cheering youngsters when she arrived in town to officially open a new school and to see CCTV cameras in operation.

The Princess was marking the opening of the new school, which was rebuilt and moved to a different site in February this year.

During her visit, she met more than 100 pupils and chatted with them about their lessons, activities and their work raising money for local and national charities.

Head boy Alex Collins and head girl Steph Brown, both 17, escorted her around the school.

After visiting the classrooms, the Princess was presented with a posy of yellow roses by Thomas Mullholland and Sophie Warlow, 11, the two youngest pupils in the school.

Pupils Sophie Dullick, Samantha Freeman and Natalie Cook, all 15, presented the Princess with a cheque for £1,051 for the Save The Children Fund.

Headteacher Christopher Montacute said: "We are very proud of our new school and it is a privilege to have Her Royal Highness here today to officially open it."

The visit ended with a fly past by three Hercules aeroplanes from nearby RAF Lynham.

After visiting the school, the Princess officially opened Wootton Bassett's brand new CCTV control room. The town recently doubled the number of cameras it operates, and supervisor Mike Tupman showed the Princess how operators work them and then introduced her to 22 of the 40 volunteers who man the centre.

She then presented certificates to Marie Hughes, who had completed 100 hours of volunteer work, and Owen Hardcock, who had put in more than 600 hours in the control room.

After the presentation the Princess chatted to some of the volunteers.

Town clerk Jonathan Bure said: "I was particularly pleased that she spent such a lot of time talking to the volunteers, because they are the people who make the whole system possible.

"She was very friendly and really put people at their ease."

Praise for new village housing scheme

THERE was royal praise when Princess Anne addressed a seminar on affordable housing in Oaksey on Monday.

Arriving at Oaksey Village Hall she told delegates that the development in Jennings Field built by Rural Housing Trust was a great asset to the village.

"Those of us who were in Oaksey ten or 11 years ago will know how much value these sites have been to the village. It is a rare opportunity to go back and see how important it has been to the community," she said.

"These developments are just as relevant as they were 11 years ago. Without the support of the parish council, rural housing doesn't work because they are the people who have the knowledge of the villages. Other parish councils can learn a lot from Oaksey," she said.

The Princess Royal has been president of the Rural Housing Trust since 1988 and visited Oaksey in 1991 when she opened a four-home development built by the trust in Jennings Field.

After attending the meeting, the Princess Royal drove herself to Jennings Field to meet Jonathan Goodfield, who bought a house when it first opened.

Mr Goodfield is the last of the original residents still at the development, where he lives with his wife Ruth, their six-month-old daughter Hannah and two-year-old son Sam.

Mr Goodfield, 31, who runs his own building firm based in Oaksey and worked for the builders that constructed the homes, said: "Princess Anne was very nice. She asked us what it was like to live there, how well the houses have worn over the years and whether local people had bought them since. She was pleased everybody was from the village.

"I was 19 when I bought the house for £40,000. Being able to buy a house for that price kept me in the village. There are hardly any people here who are between the age of 25 and 30 because they have moved to Malmesbury, Swindon or Cirencester for cheaper housing.

"There has been plenty of room but now that I have Hannah I need more space so I will be moving elsewhere in the village in November."

The land for the Jennings Field site was donated by a local benefactor and was built in partnership between the Trust and Oaksey Parish Council.