The Lord-Lieutenant of Ayrshire and Arran, Sheriff Iona McDonald OBE recently welcomed HRH The Princess Royal to the Field Studies Centre to Millport

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal was given a tour of the island’s first-class marine research and outdoor education facilities at Millport by the Field Studies Council during a closed visit.

It was The Princess Royal’s first trip to the centre since becoming Patron of the charity last year. 

The Field Studies Council operates a network of field study centres across the UK and welcomes more than 100,000 young people to its sites each year.

Millport is the charity’s most northerly and only Scottish site. Originally a marine research station, it’s now a hive of activity for school, college and university groups to learn about the island’s rich coastal environment.

During the tour, The Princess Royal met with local pupils from Cumbrae Primary School, which has a longstanding partnership with the outdoor education charity, talked to students from the Lady of the Mission Primary School who were visiting the centre on a residential trip from East Renfrewshire, and learned about a research project being undertaken by University of Salford students.

She met with centre staff, the charity’s senior leadership team, trustees and civic dignitaries and was shown the centre’s aquarium, laboratories and research vessel.

She was also briefed on the charity’s future plans for Millport and its involvement in the multi-million pound International Marine Science and Environmental Centre (IMSE) Project – a proposed Centre of Excellence and Innovation aimed at establishing the Firth of Clyde as a global leader in marine sustainability as part of the wider Ayrshire Growth Deal to drive private investment and jobs across the region.