The Queen honours Lancashire volunteers
Five Lancashire-based winners of The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service have been announced – Inter Madrassah Organisation; Braille IT; North West Blood Bikes; Kepple Lane Park Trust and Skelmersdale Mens-Aces Football Club.
This award is the MBE for groups of volunteers who work in their local community for the benefit of others.
This prestigious UK National Honour recognises outstanding voluntary contributions and sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering, with the work of those awarded being judged to be of the highest standard.
The recipients are: Inter Madrassah Organisation based in Blackburn; Braille IT serving communities in East Lancashire, North West Blood Bikes who cover the whole of Lancashire; Kepple Lane Park Trust in Garstang and the West Lancashire-based Skelmersdale Mens-Aces Football Club have been recognised for their exemplary work in their local communities and surrounding areas.
Those receiving this year’s award were selected from groups nominated by members of the public, who have been helped personally or witnessed the benefits of a group’s work in their community.
Each of the winning groups will receive a certificate signed by The Queen and an exclusive commemorative crystal, presented by Her Majesty's representative in Lancashire, Lord Shuttleworth KG KCVO, at a special ceremony arranged by the Lieutenancy Office.
Each group also received an invitation for representatives to attend a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace.
Lord Shuttleworth said: “This year’s result makes a total of 43 winners from Lancashire since the Award was inaugurated by HM The Queen in her Golden Jubilee Year in 2002.
The awards, which are the highest national honour available to a voluntary organisation, are a reflection of the substantial amount of work undertaken by these voluntary groups in the county."
For details of all this year’s award winners and information on how to nominate a group, visit www.direct.gov.uk/qavs, where a nomination form can be downloaded.