Seven voluntary organisations in Buckinghamshire win top award from The Queen

Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.

A top award from The Queen has been bestowed on seven voluntary organisations in Buckinghamshire.

On Friday 2nd June 2017 Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, The Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, announced that seven organisations, ranging from a community-run public library in the south of the county to a crisis food bank in the north are among 187 winners of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service from across the country.

The seven organisations to win the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in Buckinghamshire in 2017 include:

• Chalfont St Giles Community Library.
• Chiltern Rangers community conservation group based in Wycombe.
• DrugFAM, a lifeline for people affected by loved ones’ addictions.
• ICUsteps, a Milton Keynes group for patients who have been critically ill.
• Into the Community foodbank based in Milton Keynes.
• Meet and Mingle, a group providing healthy living activities, workshops and projects for women in and around Slough.
• Milton Keynes Islamic Arts Heritage and Culture organisation.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest given to local volunteer groups to recognise outstanding work done in their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation and is equivalent to an MBE for volunteer groups.

Sir Henry said: ‘This is a marvellous success for the committed volunteers of Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.

I’m delighted so many organisations have been honoured, and thrilled at the diversity of worthwhile causes represented. This is testament to the quality and commitment of the voluntary sector in the county.‘

The people of Buckinghamshire, said Sir Henry, were strong role models for service to the community with an estimated 60,000 volunteers serving in around 3,000 charities based in the county.

Presentations of the awards to the winners in Buckinghamshire will take place during the summer.

Nominations for the 2018 award can be made at https://www.gov.uk/queens-award-for-voluntary-service/overview.