THE Queen was in Wiltshire this week to hear about efforts to tackle violence against women and girls in the county.

Her Majesty was in Wiltshire on Monday (February 24) and met representatives of organisations from across the county.

Last year, a coalition called Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) was established comprising of members of the public, the judiciary, police, domestic abuse organisations, and business leaders.

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The group also agreed to be part of Wiltshire Police’s Independent Advisory Group, providing insight to improve services to victims and communities.

Chair of both groups is Lady Lansdowne, who coordinated the visit of Her Majesty to hear about the work being done in Wiltshire.

After the event, Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, Catherine Roper said: “It was a huge honour to present to Her Majesty The Queen the progress being made by Wiltshire Police to tackle violence against women and girls.

Chief Constable Catherine Roper meets The Queen

“That progress has only been possible through the improved trust and confidence from victims, their families, community members, and partner agencies in the policing service we are offering, and in our commitment to robustly tackling this heinous criminality.”

Temporary Detective Superintendent Lucy Thorne said: “I’m thrilled that we could welcome Her Majesty to hear about the hard work that Wiltshire Police have been carrying out to improve our service to victims and communities.

“We know that continuous focus and improvement is needed to strengthen our response to VAWG, and the Force has been working closely with some fantastic people who are dedicated to ending violence against women and girls.

“It has been an honour to share this moment with them to be able to present to Her Majesty, who has consistently shown her own absolute commitment to eradicating VAWG, the considerable efforts being made across Wiltshire.”

Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, chair of Refuge, added: “Achieving much-needed system-wide improvements to the response to domestic abuse and violence against women and girls requires not just a national approach but a local one to ensure real and genuine progress that directly impacts on victims and our communities.

“I am delighted to be part of the Wiltshire EVAWG program, and the support of Her Majesty The Queen means a huge amount. This will enable us to amplify our work and get more and more of the wider community involved.”

Other people and organisations who attended the event were the Lord Lieutenant Dame Sarah Troughton, the High Sheriff, Dr Olivia Chapple, Sarah Gibson MP for Chippenham, Carole and Matthew Gould, the parents of Ellie Gould, who was tragically murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2019, Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust, Society without Abuse, Wiltshire Justice Board, Family Court Swindon, Swindon Family Court, Wansborough Solicitors, Wiltshire Community Foundation, businessman James Phipps, Salisbury Women’s Refuge, and Education White Horse Federation of Schools.