His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester visits Peckover
- Published:
- 26 September 2024
- Last updated:
- 26 September 2024
His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester, was welcomed to Peckover House & Garden on Thursday 26 September to hear first-hand about the work that has taken place in Wisbech to support the local community.
Over the past 18 months, we have been working alongside the local community to better understand how we can remain relevant and useful to those living in the local area. It's been a journey of discovery for all involved.
Upon arrival at Peckover House, His Royal Highness met with National Trust staff, including General Manager Donna Baldwin, Community Project Manager Kerith Ririe and House & Collections Assistant, Deb Gunnill, who gave a brief tour of the house and its history.
Following the tour, representatives from Active Fenland were introduced to The Duke. Active Fenland provides informal and fun physical activity sessions in the local fenland area. They have been instrumental in our recent community outreach project.
Having heard about the exciting initiatives that have taken place this year, including free garden opening, creative family play days, and free family yoga sessions in the garden, His Royal Highness also visited Peckover’s Reed Barn.
Tucked away at the bottom of the garden, Reed Barn provides a safe and relaxing space for the Damsons dementia group who meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The Damsons group was created for people living with dementia and their loved ones, with the aim of providing opportunities for participants to socialise, share experiences or take a break from caring responsibilities.
Senior Programming and Partnerships Officer, Sarah Collins, who leads the group said: “Over the past two years, Damsons has evolved into four busy weekly sessions with regular guests who have bonded through sharing ideas, working through activities together and finding friendship.
“The strong feelings that are felt when entering a Damsons session are of warmth, friendship, identity, and unification. We are all as one and staff, volunteers, people living with dementia and their informal carers are indistinguishable.
"We are all there for the same reason; to enjoy each other’s company through nature and heritage in a beautiful setting.”
Community Project Manager, Kerith Ririe, then introduced members of the Wisbech Primary Care Network who use the space at Peckover’s Reed Barn for a social prescriber group on Monday afternoons.
The group leader, and a number of participants were able to chat with The Duke and share their stories on how the ongoing work has made a difference to them and to their community.
General Manager, Donna Baldwin, said “The Royal visit has been a real boost to the team at Peckover and to our peers locally, who have all worked hard to understand our local community and come together to offer equal access to nature, beauty, and history.
"It’s been wonderful to have had the opportunity to share our work with a member of the Royal family and we look forward to continuing to support our local community into the future.”
We will continue to work alongside community organisations and members of the local community to further build on our ambitions to better serve the people of Wisbech in the months ahead.