THE Countess of Wessex celebrated her birthday helping staff and volunteers with the coronavirus vaccination programme at Woking United Reformed Church.

Sophie was making a royal visit in her role as grand president of St John Ambulance, whose members are vaccinating people and volunteering for other duties at the centre, on Thursday last week.

To mark the occasion, Sophie was presented with a bunch of flowers and a Thank You card.

The church’s minister, the Rev Lucy Brierley, led a lively chorus of Happy Birthday To You.

Sophie worked alongside staff and volunteers. She helping to check in those arriving for jabs alongside volunteers from St John Ambulance and other centre staff, as well as sharing a cup of tea with staff and volunteers in the reception area.

More than 60,000 vaccinations have been administered at the church in White Rose Lane since the vaccination centre moved there in September. The vaccination centre is managed by Tahir Hussain of FastHeal Pharmacy in Maybury.

The staff have been helped by more than 300 volunteers, who have taken on roles that include greeting those arriving for a vaccination, supervising the queues and booking people in.

Mrs Brierley said: “We were delighted to receive the Countess of Wessex. The vaccination centre, run by Tahir and his team, has made an indispensable contribution to ensuring Woking remains healthy against COVID over the last five months. Being visited by the Countess was a real boost.”

Mr Hussain added: “We are delighted and amazed at being able to deliver such an important service for the community. At one stage, we were the busiest vaccine site in the whole of Surrey.

“We wouldn’t have been able to run effectively without my team at FastHeal Pharmacy, the lovely stewards and volunteers, and the team at Woking United Reformed Church for providing their venue and support.

“We have built an amazing relationship which shows a great community spirit that is rare to see in this day and age.”

Commenting on the impact of the centre being run in the church, Mrs Brierley said, “We believe Christian faith isn’t just about believing in Jesus but also doing good in his name.

“Hosting such a busy vaccination centre in the church building has certainly been a logistical challenge, but we’ve been delighted to help to shine a light in our local area.

“I also love the fact that we are doing this in partnership with people from across the faith spectrum, and volunteers from all walks of life.”

* THE vaccination centre is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9am to 4.30pm. Walk-in vaccinations are usually available, but appointments can be booked via the COVID-19 section of www.nhs.uk.