HRH The Princess Royal comes to Milton Keynes - and is impressed with what she sees

Milton Keynes-based charity, Spinal Injuries Association, welcomed HRH The Princess Royal to its head office in Oldbrook on Friday to celebrate 50 years of the charity.

Founded by Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Baroness Masham of Ilton, in 1974 following her sustaining a spinal cord injury due to a horse riding accident, Spinal Injuries Association provides practical support to help people with spinal cord injuries live the lives they want.

The Princess Royal became the charity’s royal patron in 1984 and has remained a loyal supporter to this day, helping the charity to highlight why their support is more vital than ever.

Spinal cord injury can be caused by accidents, illnesses and health conditions. There are now 105,000 people in the UK with spinal cord injury which can lead to paralysis and many are full time wheelchair users. Their world – and that of their family – is turned upside-down.

The 50th event was attended by a host of supporters, ambassadors including Jonathan Goodwin and Amanda Abbington, SIA members, gold medal-winning Paralympians, and nine-year-old poster competition winner Zinnia Amaefule, who presented The Princess Royal with a posy as she departed.

Spinal Injuries Association’s support network delivers support sessions, answers queries through their support line, advises carers, healthcare professionals, and family members on spinal cord injury care, and provides counselling to people living with spinal cord injury. To find out more, visit https://spinal.co.uk/.

Spinal Injuries Association is the expert guiding voice for people affected by spinal cord injury and the hundreds of thousands of people who are their families, friends and carers.

Every day twelve people sustain a spinal cord injury -4400 additional cases per year. But ongoing rehabilitation, mental health support and even basic healthcare needs for spinal cord injured people and their families are under-resourced, making the chances of a fulfilled life hard to achieve. A spokesperson said: “We offer the hope, confidence, and practical skills to help people rebuild their lives, return home and lead a fulfilled life. We help spinal cord injured people create a lifelong network of support to meet every aspect of their physical and mental wellbeing needs, through providing our own services such as specialist nursing, counselling, advocacy, and campaigning and connecting people to other services.”