Press Release
Visit of The Princess Royal to Wings South West, Abbotsham, Bideford - 6th May 2014
A North Devon charity’s exciting plan to build an enterprise, sports and community centre in
Bideford received a Royal seal of approval this week with a visit to the region of HRH The
Princess Royal on Tuesday.
Princess Anne was given a guided tour of the current work of Wings South West at its
Lendon Barn Centre in Abbotsham and was then given a detailed run-down of the charity’s
plans and ambitions for the proposed Bridge Centre in Bideford.
The aim of Wings is to provide support and opportunities to the young and disadvantaged in
an area of severe economic deprivation and high youth unemployment.
The Princess Royal saw for herself all the work that had gone into converting Lendon Barn
from “the largest chicken shed in Europe” into a centre providing, among other things,
training in car mechanics, indoor cricket nets, a gym, multimedia and spaces for outdoor
pursuits and drama.
And she seemed particularly keen to hear about The Bridge Centre, with a £6million capital
target of which £600,000 in pro bono services has been pledged by a number of leading
companies, among them Make Architects, law firm Pinsent Masons and local architects,
RGP.
Dr Paul Bowser, Wings’ founder and chief executive and one of the driving forces behind the
Bridge Centre project, who acted as guide to the Royal guest, said: “It was a great boost to
welcome The Princess Royal to Wings, both to celebrate its past and current work and to set
out the vision of The Bridge Centre. We are honoured that the charity was chosen for such a
visit and we know that it will have a positive impact on our future.”
Wings, set up in 2000, has given itself a wider brief in relation to the centre. The aims, it
says, are to benefit the whole of the community, bringing together ‘young and old, abled
and disabled, employed and unemployed’. As well as creating over 70 direct and indirect
jobs and providing leisure and sporting activities, training will be offered to those seeking
much needed skills for the workplace, helping to raise their confidence and self-esteem at
the same time.
The Princess Royal, who unveiled a plaque commemorating her visit, met a wide cross
section of people including children and young people, Wings’ staff, Trustees and
volunteers, Bideford Town Mayor Simon and Mrs Inch, Geoffrey Cox MP, Tony Hogg (Police
and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall), local and national partners and The
Bridge Centre Executive Board.