In December we were delighted to have the opportunity to meet HRH Princess Anne when she visited HMP Wandsworth to award a plaque acknowledging the wonderful work of the staff at Addision unit - the prison’s mental health inpatient facility.

During her tour of the prison Princess Anne also had a chance to see some of the innovative work that is done at Wandsworth including pieces made by our Fine Cell Work stitchers.

Ahead of Her Royal Highness's visit and guided in their efforts by our Workshop and Commissions Manager Hilda Sheppard, the inmates created a board for display. The Princess was able to see many photographs of commissions that have been completed at the prison, including the quilt we have stitched for the V&A and the wall hanging for the Sage, Gateshead (both of which are to be unveiled in the coming months – see events for more details).

We were also delighted to show her one of a series of cushions we had stitched especially for Prince Charles’ Highgrove shop.

Hilda was delighted to have had the opportunity to chat to Her Royal Highness about our work and just as she was about to leave, in honour ofher visit and as a thank you Fine Cell Work presented her with a cushion, which she was greatly impressed by!

The cushion, stitched in needlepoint and bearing a union jack design had been stitched in HMP Whatton to a very high standard and then made up with great pride by the inmates at HMP Wandsworth.

As an added personal touch, the stitchers also designed and embroidered her logo on the back of the cushion which made her smile, as you can see from the above photo!