A member of the royal family visited Bracknell ahead of a new charity shop opening.

HRH The Countess of Wessex volunteered at the newly opened DEBRA store in Martins Heron on Wednesday, September 23.

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Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones is a patron of the charity which helps support individuals and families living with skin condition Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).

The Countess had a busy morning sorting donations, pricing stock and helping to serve customers.

During the visit, she spoke to 14 year-old Fazeel Irfan, who has Dystrophic EB (DEB) about what life is really like living with EB, and his experience of managing the condition during lockdown.

Fazeel Irfan, DEBRA ambassador said: “When you have EB, a lot of things are restricted. You have to think about every single thing you do. Other children don’t have to do that. That’s why I want to find a cure for EB if DEBRA hasn’t found one by the time I’m old enough to be a doctor.

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"The worst thing about EB is the pain. The pain is incredible. I have to take so many painkillers every day – sometimes paracetamol and ibuprofen, sometimes the medication is so extreme it puts me to sleep. "Then there’s the itch. Some days there is no itch at all and sometimes I have days where I just can’t stop itching. And there is normal stuff like eating. I can’t eat hard foods, like crisps, because that creates blisters in my mouth, and I find it difficult to eat a lot because that also causes blistering”.

Chantelle Milne, director of Retail at DEBRA, added: “I am delighted to welcome our Patron HRH The Countess of Wessex to our newly opened DEBRA store.

"We have over 1,000 volunteers who play such a crucial role alongside our staff in helping our charity on a daily basis and we are hoping to recruit a further 300 volunteers in the next quarter. Like many other organisations, the last few months have been a challenging period for DEBRA but we are confident our customers and donors will continue to support us as we raise vital funding for the incredible EB community.”