Princess in centre visit
Houldsworth Centre welcomes royal guest
HRH The Princess Royal visited the £23m Houldsworth Centre in Wishaw last Wednesday afternoon.
Princess Anne was welcomed on arrival by Deputy Lieutenant of Lanarkshire, Lady Susan Haughey, who presented the Depute Provost for North Lanarkshire, Councillor Jean Jones, and chair of NHS Lanarkshire, Neena Mahal.
The Princess Royal was given a tour of the centre starting in the library with the Bookbug children’s activity group, before moving onto the Music Works facility and the community physiotherapy room.
She also viewed the art work featured in the centre - part of a popular community project to create a stimulating environment within the centre - and met lead artist Marion Parola from Bespoke Attelier.
The Princess Royal then unveiled a commemorative plaque in the library, after which she was presented with a posy by three-year-old Lucy McCrossan.
Neena Mahal, chair of NHS Lanarkshire, said: “We were delighted to present the Houldsworth Centre to HRH The Princess Royal. We are very proud of the centre. It’s an awardwinning facility which represents strong partnership working and provides opportunities for new ways of working to meet the needs of the local community. As a new, multimillion pound building, it also makes a significant contribution to the regeneration of Wishaw town centre.”
North Lanarkshire depute provost, councillor Jean Jones, added: “This excellent facility is an important part of Wishaw town centre, bringing together local services in one place, accessible to everyone. I would like to thank The Princess Royal for visiting the Houldsworth Centre, to see the partnership working between the council and NHS Lanarkshire which is providing first class local services for residents.”
On the same day, Princess Anne met convicts in one of Scotland’s toughest prisons, HMP Shotts.