HRH The Countess of Wessex dropped in to an Aberystwyth primary school in her role as royal patron of the NSPCC to hear how the charity is helping to keep hundreds of children safe across west Wales.

The Countess, who is the NSPCC’s royal patron, spent Thursday, 8 November, in Ceredigion attending a conference ‘Keeping children safe in West Wales’ at Aberystwyth University.

She followed the conference with a visit to St Padarn’s Catholic Primary School where she spoke to the pupils about an NSPCC Speak Out Stay Safe schools service assembly which had taken place there earlier in the day.

Speak Out Stay Safe is delivered by specially-trained staff and volunteers and aims to ensure all primary school children receive essential information on staying safe from abuse.

Last year the NSPCC visited 11 schools in Ceredigion with nearly 400 children receiving advice on how to stay safe.

The leading children’s charity plans to reach even more children in Ceredigion and west Wales and is appealing for more volunteers to help deliver the groundbreaking assemblies.

Since the scheme was launched in Wales in 2011 children at more than 1,500 schools have received safety messages from specially-trained NSPCC staff and volunteers on how to speak out about abuse.

The service is entirely funded through fundraising activities for the NSPCC, and is offered to schools at no cost.

Des Mannion, head of NSPCC Cymru/Wales, said: “We are grateful for HRH The Countess of Wessex for taking the time to learn about what we are doing in west Wales to keep children safe.”

Earlier in the day the Countess of Wessex had attended the NSPCC conference at Aberystwyth University where she heard about the NSPCC’s work across Wales.

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