Royal volunteer! Sophie Wessex gives time to support frontline workers

Sophie Wessex has been praised for her hard work and generosity amid the Covid-19 outbreak, volunteering her time and skills to help cook meals and package items for frontline workers during the pandemic.

The countess donned gloves and a face mask this week as she joined many other dedicated volunteers helping to assist health care workers who are hard at work caring for those impacted by the coronavirus.

She left her home in Surrey behind for the day to volunteer with rhubarb Ltd, a hospitality group based in the UK which has been packaging and preparing meals for NHS emergency room workers. The organisation is currently helping to cook and deliver thousands of meals a week to five different NHS hospitals.

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“Thank you to Her Royal Highness the Countess of Wessex for joining us today and working so hard in the kitchen at rhubarb to prepare food for our heroic NHS Hospital Teams,” a post shared to the organisation’s Instagram page read.

A series of photos were shared of the countess from the day showing her preparing meals and helping to clean the kitchen. Meanwhile, the royal family also shared a collection of snaps of Sophie hard at work to their Instagram page.

The hardworking royal could be seen happily packing boxes of goods for the healthcare workers and handing packages over to the staff.

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“Thank you to every single volunteer who is continuing to support their communities and the NHS, whether that be through the #NHSVolunteerResponders, preparing and donating items for care and food packages, or supporting vulnerable members of the community,” the social media post read.

“Today @ctcfrimleypark and @frimleyhealth, the Countess of Wessex helped to prepare food and care parcels for NHS staff at her local hospital in Frimley Park. The countess joined millions of people up and down the country who are volunteering their time to support the NHS, charitable initiatives and support vulnerable people in their communities.”

Royal fans have since praised the countess for her hard work and dedication to helping others, with many dubbing her their “favourite royal”.

“Thanks for your kindness,” @b.anitah commented on Instagram. While @cekiinaa said: “Sophie is amazing”. And @originaldd63 added: “My favourite royal! Wonderful lady!”

Sophie’s appearance at the hospital comes as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge speak out about their time in lockdown and their fears for the health of the older members of the royal family.

Prince William joined his wife Catherine for a video chat with the BBC this week, discussing their life in lockdown, home schooling the kids, the importance of mental health and their fears for the elderly members of the family who are most at risk of contracting coronavirus.

Just weeks ago Prince Charles was forced into quarantine after testing positive for the virus, along with his wife Camilla, who received a negative result. While the Queen’s son is back to good health now and is free of Covid-19, William said he was “quite concerned” for his father at the time.

"If we are going to go forward with more time spent in lockdown, then there is going to be an ever-increasing need for people to look after their mental health"

William and Kate say lockdown is 'stressful' for many people, including frontline NHS workershttps://t.co/pT2T3PX804 pic.twitter.com/31o2BiDbh6

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 17, 2020

“He fits the profile of somebody at the age he’s at which is fairly risky,” he said on the video chat with BBC reporter Tina Daheley. “So I was a little bit worried, but my father has had many chest infections, colds and things and so I thought to myself ‘if anybody is going to beat this it’s going to be him’ and actually he was very lucky, he had mild symptoms.”

William said it wasn’t actually the physical symptoms of the virus that his father found the most difficult to deal with during his quarantine period, but being confined to the home and being unable to get in his regular exercise. The prince said for his father, getting in his walks is important for his mental health, and so that’s probably what he struggled with the most.

“I think that was the biggest thing that impacted him,” William explained. “[It’s] what he needs to keep functioning and be happy and healthy and suddenly you can take that away and you start noticing it. I think that was quite challenging for him.”