DURING her whistle-stop visit to the North-East, the Countess of Wessex officially opened the first specialist facility for young  adults with life-limiting illnesses in County Durham and Teesside.

She praised staff and volunteers at Butterwick Hospice for looking after about 2,000 patients and met with visitors of all ages as well as the inspirational Mary Butterwick who also now regularly uses the hospice she founded 30 years ago. 

Wearing a camel coat and matching heels, the royal spoke with families in the new £400,000 extension to the Butterwick Children’s Hospice in Stockton, now called Butterwick House, offering respite care to older teenagers and young adults.

After unveiling a plaque in the said: “I want to extend my thanks to all those involved in the creation, not only of the original hospice but also recognising the need to extend the services so you can look after those who, unfortunately, quite often fall through the stools of children’s care and adults care. “Clearly they are very excited about what you have done. You are making such a difference to their journeys so I thank you very much indeed.”

Vicky Garrity, learning disability nurse, explained that medical advances meant children were living longer and a new centre was needed to meet the needs of 19 to 26-year-olds.

“We will be looking at helping them to plan their own meals, budget, and other life skills. We are going to give them more independence and we are here to support that with social activities such as going to the pictures or perhaps the pub.”

One of the several families the countess spent time with was severely disabled Bethany Hicks, 17, and her parents Steven and Elsie Hicks from Darlington, who have relied on its respite care for 10 years.

“Sophie was fabulous, really down to earth and relaxed, I was surprised how knowledgeable she was about the services,” said Mr Hicks. “Bethany comes here 14 nights a year so we were thrilled when we were told that the new unit for young adults was going to open.”

The wife of Prince Edward also impressed Mrs Butterwick, 90, who worked tirelessly to launch hospices in Stockton and later Bishop Auckland following the undignified death of her husband, John.

“I thought Sophie was lovely, I didn’t expect her to have any edge on her, but she was so relaxed and so ordinary,” she said.

“It has been a wonderful day. I knew there was a vast need for a hospice, my husband’s death proved that to me. He did not have, what we now call a ‘good’ death. I brought hospice care to the North of England, I’m not one for talking about it I wanted to do it.”

She added: “I hopefully will die here. There’s nothing to be frightened of in death and there’s nothing to be frightened of coming to a hospice.”  

THE Countess of Wessex had a glimpse of life as a firefighter as she opened a brigade headquarters.

Her Royal Highness was lifted two storeys into the sky on an aerial ladder platform on a visit to County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service’s new headquarters in Belmont, Durham City.

Although she looked nervous at the invitation from brigade chief executive Susan Johnson, the Countess braved the lift and was held aloft for several minutes before being returned to solid ground.

HRH spent two hours at the 35,000sq ft facility, during which she took lunch with civic and emergency services leaders, met control room staff and watched Scrappy the fire investigation dog locate flammable substances.

She was also given a demonstration by members of the Young Firefighters’ Association, met pupils from Belmont CE Junior School and unveiled a plaque to declare the HQ officially open.

Thanking her hosts for the invitation, she wished them every success and said it was a pleasure to visit.

“I’ve enjoyed it. Judging by what the other one was like before, it’s only going to be an improvement.”

“It’s a wonderful addition to the area,” she said, adding that the nation was very proud of the fire service.

School pupil Liam Jones, nine, said: “She asked if we wanted to be firefighters and if we were brave.”

Young Firefighter Claire Hodgson, 15, added: “She was very nice and kind.”

Her Royal Highness also opened The North East Centre for Autism, based in Newton Aycliffe, where she was given a tour of the state-of-the-art centre from John Phillipson, CEO of The North East Autism Society (NEAS).

Mr Phillipson said: “It has been a privilege to welcome The Countess of Wessex to Newton Aycliffe to see the centre and to meet the families that we support.

“The visit has enabled us to raise awareness about autism, but also demonstrate some of the highly specialist work that we do and the benefits this has on our children and young people.”

The Countess finished her visit to the region with at the Stadium of Light, where she was guest of honour at an event to promote the Beacon of Light, a proposed permanent base for the Foundation of Light, the official charity of SAFC.