# 230 organisations receive 2020 Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/06/03/230-organisations-receive-2020-queens-award-for-voluntary-service/
- Published: 2020-06-03T09:30:19+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**North Somerset Black and Minority Ethnic Network, Tyne & Wear’s Forward Assist,
and the Cymer Afan Community Library are among 2020’s recipients of the Queen’s 
Award for Voluntary Service, announced during this week’s Volunteers’ Week.**

A total of 230 organisations from across the UK have been given the [Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service](https://qavs.culture.gov.uk/)
this year.

Coinciding with Volunteers’ Week, which takes place from 1-7 June, this year’s Award
celebrates the work of a diverse range of volunteer groups whose work has enhanced
and supported local communities over a number of years. Many of those honoured have
adapted their services to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

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The Award recipients include:

 * Forward Assist, in Tyne and Wear, which set up a virtual support service for 
   veterans in the community, in which a therapist checks in with ‘safe and well’
   calls and offers one-to-one counselling. It has also arranged food parcels, offered
   financial advice and updated CVs for vulnerable, isolated veterans.
 * The Cymer Afan Community Library, which repurposed its building, staff and volunteers
   to transform the library into a temporary food bank for the community when a 
   local food bank closed in Neath Port Talbot because its volunteers were self-
   isolating.
 * North Somerset Black and Minority Ethnic Network, which has supported the local
   community with advice and assistance over the phone as well as delivering over
   5000 hot meals to vulnerable people, free of charge.
 * Eglinton Community Centre in Derry-Londonderry, which has been running online
   dance exercise classes to support the mental health and wellbeing of older people
   who usually attend the centre.
 * Gairloch Community Car Scheme in the Scottish Highlands, which has adapted its
   car service to collect and deliver groceries, pharmacy items and other shopping
   for those isolated during the pandemic. They have also extended the area they
   cover to a 150-mile radius to ensure the more remote, outlying families can access
   help.

The recipients of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service are announced every year
on 2 June, the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation.

Any volunteer-led group comprising two or more people having a positive impact on
the lives of others in an exceptional way can be nominated for an award. More details
can be found on the [Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service website](https://qavs.culture.gov.uk/).

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Independent Committee Chair Sir Martyn Lewis,
said:

> “This year’s Queen’s Awards highlight the considerable achievements of groups 
> of volunteers who have been making a real impact to the fabric of our country 
> for many years – in some cases decades. Inspired by all that is best in the human
> spirit, they are made up of local people who have come together to address particular
> issues and problems facing their communities – often in new and imaginative ways.
> “All of these award winners have demonstrated a long-term commitment to volunteering
> that gives real meaning to society, and which shows Britain at its best. Moreover,
> some of them have also managed to provide valuable support with the fight against
> Covid-19.”

Nominations for the 2021 awards close on 25 September 2020.

 * **[Great British Beach Clean asks volunteers to record abandoned PPE](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/07/20/great-british-beach-clean-asks-volunteers-to-record-abandoned-ppe/)**(
   20 July 2020)
 * **[Miss out on TV & help in your community instead, campaign asks](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/11/17/miss-out-on-tv-help-in-your-community-instead-campaign-asks/)**(
   17 November 2020)
 * **[Charities urged to get involved in Volunteers’ Week 2021 & say thank you](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/05/04/charities-urged-to-get-involved-in-volunteers-week-2021-say-thank-you/)**(
   4 May 2021)

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