Winners of the 2015 Queen's Award for Voluntary Service announced
Nearly 200 organisations have been awarded the prestigious Queen's Award for Voluntary Service this year.
187 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups will receive the prestigious award this year. The number of awards handed out to groups have increased by over 60% from 2014. This is due to an increase in high quality applications, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to tackle community challenges.
View a list of the 2015 Queen’s Award winners.
Award winners this year range from Ablaze, a charity helping to raise academic achievement amongst disadvantaged young people in Bristol to a volunteer rescue boat service on Loch Lomond.
Former broadcast journalist Martyn Lewis CBE is the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Committee Chair. He said:
I warmly congratulate all of the inspirational voluntary groups who have been rewarded for their community work with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The judging panel for this year’s awards were struck by the quality and breadth of all the successful groups. The thousands of volunteers who give up spare time to help others in their community and to help solve problems demonstrate the best of democracy in action.
Minister for Civil Society, Rob Wilson, said:
I would like to congratulate all groups who received this year’s Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, in recognition of their fantastic achievements. The hard work and commitment that goes into the work of these organisations is surpassed only by the passion and motivation of the individuals who volunteer. I hope these groups continue to inspire others to get involved and make a positive impact so that we can continue to build a bigger, stronger society.
About the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
This is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their communities. The awards were created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and winners are announced each year on 2 June – the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.
Nominate a group for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
Any group of 2 or more people that has participated in voluntary work for more than 3 years can be nominated for the award. Visit the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for more details.
Nominations for the 2016 awards close on 18 September 2015.