Royal Central - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
The Princess Royal has heard about the impact of a community initiative on tackling knife crime. Princess Anne visited Off the Streets North Northamptonshire which has been instrumental in the rollout of a scheme designed to save lives.
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Off the Streets provides bleed control kits to be used if someone is attacked with a knife. Since the rollout began, at least four lives have been saved as a result.
The Princess Royal spoke to co-founder Ravaun Jones about the scheme and praised the work that has gone into making the kits available.
The Princess also heard from young people about their concerns over knife crime. One, 14 year old Tiffany, said ”we need people to be educated so they can be more thoughtful, sympathetic and smart.”
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Off the Streets also works to supply amnesty bins which have seen over 3,000 knives deposited in north Northamptonshire.
Ravuan Jones spoke to Princess Anne about his determination to end knife crime following the death of Dylan Holliday who was just 16 when he was stabbed in Wellingborough.
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The royal visit got more attention than usual as the Princess arrived in Wellingborough just hours after a by election which saw the Conservative Party lose a safe seat after a big swing to Labour. The result led to more discussion about the next government with a general election due within a year and polls and this ballot indicating the incumbent Tories will struggle to retain power.
However, this visit was planned far in advance and there was never any possibility of the discreet and focused Princess Royal straying anywhere near politics.
The aim of her time in Wellingborough was to see the work of a scheme that is saving lives.