The Legacy was honoured with a high profile visit by the Princess Royal on the 8th January. Her Royal Highness performed the official unveiling of a plaque to commemorate her visit. She also had an extensive tour of the centre and its facilities, hosted by Joe Mawdsley, Founder and Director of Services, and met with staff, supporters and children.

Joe Mawdsley said,

“We were absolutely delighted that the Princess Royal agreed to visit the centre to see for herself the unique work we are involved in. As the Patron of the Wooden Spoon Rugby Charity, Princess Anne has a strong interest in groups which support disadvantaged children. The Legacy Rainbow House is one of the Wooden Spoon’s supported charities. The organisation has supported us this year with £80,000 to pay for the fantastic outdoor play areas at The Legacy.

The Princess’s visit confirms that The Legacy Rainbow House is building a reputation in the UK for the value of its work. Her Royal Highness was very interested in what we do and keen to see our services develop in the future. Her visit has certainly helped to raise awareness of our work amongst businesses and the community. We have already had many offers of support as a result of the coverage of the event in the press, radio and TV. Our running costs are £1.5 million for this year alone and without continued support from corporate supporters and the local community we cannot survive.”

John Dewhurst, Rugby Relations Manager for Wooden Spoon, who hosted the event with Joe said,

“We have a very high regard for the work of the Legacy Rainbow House and have been supporting the charity for over two years now.

The Legacy Rainbow House has achieved so much with the children who attend. We were so impressed with the plans to build the new Legacy centre that we decided to donate £80,000 for the play area which looks really superb and great fun!”

Invited guests were transported by coach to The Legacy in order to meet The Palace’s strict security arrangements. Thanks go to John Fishwick and Son for kindly providing the coach at no charge.