The Lord-Lieutenant, Clare, Countess of Euston, presented voluntary group, Halesworth Volunteers with their Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service on Friday 9 December 2022.
Over 60 volunteers and service users braved the freezing temperatures to attend the Presentation which took place at St Mary’s Church, Halesworth.
The Queen’s Award is the equivalent of an MBE for voluntary organisations and only the very best groups across the UK are awarded the prestigious Award each year. Halesworth Volunteers were recognised for promoting well-being and overcoming isolation in Halesworth and its surrounding villages.
The Award was presented to Emma Healey, Director, of the organisation who commented, ‘We have been around for nearly 40 years and still serve the most vulnerable in the area. To receive the QAVS is just so amazing and it means the world to us all involved in our Services.’ Mrs Healey thanked all the volunteers without whom they could not operate.
The Lord-Lieutenant thanked them all and congratulated them on their recent work including the community car drivers (who average around 500 journeys a month,) their Isolation Busters Befriending Programme and the Community Larder which has seen a big increase in visitors, rising from 450 a month to 650. The Group are one of the last voluntary groups to receive a Certificate personally signed by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.