SOPHIE, Countess of Wessex, put her royal seal of approval on a crafts workshop for people with learning disabilities.

She was shown round the Jenny Ruth Workshops by co-founders Barry and Sue Evason.

Once formalities were completed, protocol went out of the window as the countess spent an hour chatting informally with learning disabled, volunteers and trustees.

She congratulated the charity on its move from a shed in Mr and Mrs Evason's garden, near Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, to its present workshops at Newby Hall Estate, near Ripon. "It seems like quite a leap," she said.

The royal visit was triggered after Mr Evason attended a reception hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

While he mingled with the 400 guests - dubbed pioneers and ground breakers - he met the Duke of York's private secretary, who took a keen interest in the charity.

Mr and Mrs Evason started the workshops as a living memorial to a Downs Syndrome child, Jenny Ruth, who was to be adopted by them but died aged ten months.

The Evasons natural son, 39-year-old Jonathan, who is also Downs Syndrome, is employed by the firm, along with their four adopted sons and daughers, Ben, 19, Rebekah, 21, Matthew 23, and Beth 24, who are all Downs Syndrome.