Last call for 2018 Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service nominations

The Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, The Lord Shuttleworth KG KCVO, today made a final call for people across the county to nominate outstanding volunteer groups in their area for the 2018 Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, before this year’s 15th September deadline.

This prestigious UK National Honour, which has an equivalent status to the MBE, recognises the exceptional contributions made to local communities by groups voluntarily devoting their time for the benefit of others.

In June this year, five outstanding groups in Lancashire received the 2017 Award from nominations made from across the UK. These groups were nominated by friends, family or members of the public.

Although nominations can be made at any time during the year by visiting https://qavs.direct.gov.uk, for those wishing to be considered for the 2018 Award, forms must be received by 15th September 2017.

Mrs Jo Darbyshire, Deputy Lieutenant and Chairman of the Lancashire Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Advisory Panel said, “Lancashire takes great pride in its volunteering groups and the members in them who make such a huge contribution to people’s lives. They put in many hours of time and spend years quietly improving the lives of local people. They are the unsung heroes of our county, and deserve our praise and thanks for the incredible job they do. Individuals coming together as a team to take on mutual service, help to make Lancashire the good place it is for people to live and work. A prestigious National Honour such as The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service not only thanks and recognises volunteers, but can prove invaluable in so many ways to the ongoing success of the organisation.

“I know that volunteers enjoy what they do but often they tackle challenging problems or circumstances which require extra time and effort way beyond the original need. Many successful groups have started by one or two people seeing a need and getting together to do something about it.

“So if you benefit from the activities of a group or you know of a group of exceptional volunteers, please take a little bit of time to nominate them for this very special honour.”

In the fifteen years since it was created by Her Majesty to mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002 over a 1000 groups across the UK have received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This includes 48 from Lancashire.

For details of how to nominate and to download a nomination form in PDF or word format, visit https://qavs.direct.gov.uk/