THE Princess Royal has confirmed that she will extend her patronage with YSS for a further three years.

The news was sent in a letter from Buckingham Palace.

The Princess has been Patron of the Worcester based charity since 2008 and has taken an active interest in YSS' work.

She has visited seven times over the years, to meet staff and service users and to be updated about the charity's different services.  

Most recently, Princess Anne attended YSS' event, Working Together in Herefordshire Now and In the Future in Hereford, where she joined a round table discussion with local dignitaries, charity and community leaders, and met with YSS staff, service users, volunteers and colleagues from the charity sector.

Catherine Kevis, YSS chief executive, said: "Princess Anne has always been a passionate supporter of YSS and takes a real interest in what we do and the impact that we have.

"She is very knowledgeable about the challenges that the charity sector faces in delivering services on the ground and her support in raising the profile of our work has been, and will continue to be invaluable."

YSS delivers fourteen community based services throughout West Mercia, including seven in Herefordshire: diversionary services, Arc and Divert; Re-Connect, which works with newly released prisoners in HMP Hewell and HMP Featherstone; ESS Plus which works with individuals on a prison licence to help reduce the risk of reoffending; Appropriate Adult, which provides volunteers for minors who are arrested and don’t have a parent/guardian to accompany them at the police station; the women's service Chrysalis, which helps women to build their financial skills and resilience; and a safer roads service, #MORSE, which provides one to one support to tackle the root causes of dangerous driving.

YSS was established in 1986 and now supports 2,000 individuals each year across West Mercia. The charity’s work is based in local communities with rehabilitation and prevention services: Early Help in family centres, Young Carers, Veterans and Women at risk of offending and young people at risk.