VETERANS at the Help for Heroes recovery centre in Tidworth were joined by a royal visitor today (Friday) to celebrate their amazing achievements.

HRH The Princess Royal, who is the President of the City and Guilds of London Institute, presented certificates to Tedworth House’s first cohort of 12 to achieve City and Guilds qualifications.

The Help for Heroes Recovery Centre became an approved centre to offer City and Guilds qualifications earlier this year.

During her visit she was able to speak with wounded service personnel and veterans, and find out more about the work done at the recovery centre.

Alexandra McClellan, 33, who served as an emergency nurse specialist with the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, completed the Principles of Live Quarry Shooting course.

She said: “It has given a little piece of me back that I have lost.

“It is a world I would never have got entry to and it has been really nice to get that introduction to it. It has given me a lot of career options."

She added: “I am just really glad we have got this partnership, so many more people are going to benefit. It will help people get on the right track.”

Speaking about meeting the Princess Royal, she said: “It was quite overwhelming. She is very, very easy to talk to and puts you at ease."

Matthew Cope, 33, who is an engineer in the Royal Navy, was also presented with his new qualification for the Principles of Live Quarry Shooting. He said: “It is a fantastic achievement, I am really proud. It is brilliant to be one of the first to gain this achievement at Tedworth. This is the start of a brilliant future for the charity."

Speaking about his course he said it had ‘opened his eyes’ to new things and sparked his interest in conservation, which he is now considering as a career option when he leaves the Navy. He is also considering going on to do further college courses.

Susan Turnball, the Head of the newly formed Help for Heroes career recovery team, said: “The partners we work with have enabled us to give the guys the opportunity to get royal recognition for what they achieve. It is a major landmark."

"This is just the start," she added. "We have achieved a lot in a relative short time window. We have now got a template to roll it out to all our recovery centres."