Princess Royal visits anti-knife crime group in Wellingborough

The Princess Royal was shown a knife amnesty bin as she visited a group that works to combat stabbings in Wellingborough.

Anne met volunteers from Off the Streets North Northamptonshire (NN) and heard from those affected by knife crime during the visit at the market town's Hind Hotel.

Off the Streets NN co-founder Ravaun Jones gave Anne a demonstration of a bleed control kit and a knife amnesty bin.

Anne, dressed in a tweed jacket, said it was "nice" to see the bleed control kits "become more available".

Off the Streets NN has placed 203 bleed kits across Northamptonshire, with four of these having been used to save lives in emergency situations.

Anne unveiled a plaque to commemorate her visit to the hotel - which is used by Off the Streets NN for meetings.

The plaque will remain in the hotel until the organisation gets its own premises, and before the unveiling Anne joked: "The trouble is finding somewhere to put it."

Mr Jones said he started Off the Streets NN because of the "tragic" death of 16-year-old Dylan Holliday, who was fatally stabbed in August 2021.

He added: "Previously before that, there was quite a lot of stabbings going on throughout our community.

"However, we just felt like if we could act as a community, and help the authorities as well, then maybe there can be a massive amount of change."

The 13 amnesty bins placed across the county by Off the Streets NN have resulted in 3,000 knives being discarded.

Anne presented certificates to individuals who had supported the organisation and listened to two local schoolchildren read out pieces they had written on knife crime.

In his piece, Taylan Jones, 13, said: "I can't even go out to the park or any public place for that matter without my parents fearing that I may not make it back home.

"It's getting worse. And if we don't act upon it now, we will have a dangerous society."

He added: "We need to bring back youth centres as it gives children a reason to stay off the streets and focus rather than wreak havoc."

Tiffany Pettit, 14, said in her piece: "We need people to be educated so they can be more thoughtful, sympathetic and smart."

She added that she wished children growing up in Wellingborough could "feel safe in their environment".

The royal visit comes after it was announced that the King would be undergoing regular treatment for an unspecified cancer, which was found during his recent hospital stay for a procedure on an enlarged prostate.

The King's slimmed-down monarchy has been put under pressure, as Charles postpones all public-facing duties because of his cancer diagnosis and the Princess of Wales is out of action for the immediate future after abdominal surgery. Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.