Local Charity Awarded Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service
The Children’s Bereavement Centre, in Newark recognised with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2016
A Charity from Newark who works in the community across Nottinghamshire and parts of Lincolnshire to offer free bereavement and loss support to children (3-18) and their families has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.
The award is given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their communities and was 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.
For the last 14 years The Children’s Bereavement Centre has been offering professional support and advice children affected by death, terminal illness, divorce or separation. Early intervention and support has been proven to help prevent adverse behaviour and mental health problems developing in the future. The Children’s Bereavement Centre help children and their families to cope with loss and move forward.
In the last 4 years the Children’s Bereavement Centre has opened up a further 6 Outreach centres across Nottinghamshire bringing their services closer to the children and families who need them. This has meant that they have taken on a further 15 clinical volunteers. The volunteers are an integral part of their organisation and without them the service of the Children’s Bereavement Centre would simply cease to exist.
Simon Shaw, the longest serving volunteer and a Trustee was honoured to attend the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on 24th May with his wife Tracy. He said: “it was a great honour to be invited to represent the charity and meet many others who do such great work across a wide range of charity organisations”.
The Children’s Bereavement Centre is one of 193 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of awards given to groups this year is slightly higher than last year, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to tackle community challenges.
The Children’s Bereavement Centre will receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Sir John Peace later this summer.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Committee Chair, former broadcast journalist Sir Martyn Lewis 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 very 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 huge amount of work and commitment these organisations put into their local communities 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 more compassionate society.”
Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Sir John Peace, said:
“I am delighted that the Queen has recognised the volunteers at the Children’s Bereavement Centre. The volunteers have been the life blood of the Children’s Bereavement Centre for the past 14 years. They give up so much of their time to give local children and young people the support they need at one of the most traumatic times in their lives, they are making an enormous contribution to our community.”
Kate Baxter, Director of Services at the Children’s Bereavement Centre said:
“The charity is a vital support for many children and families and I am thrilled that it has been recognised for its contribution within the local community. Our amazing volunteers contribute so much and it is because of this and their commitment that so much has been achieved.”