# 262 organisations receive first King’s Award for Voluntary Service

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/11/14/262-organisations-receive-first-kings-award-for-voluntary-service/
- Published: 2023-11-14T09:30:00+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**262 organisations across the UK have been awarded the first King’s Award for Voluntary
Service, which is the highest award given to local volunteer groups in recognition
of outstanding community service.**

Formerly known as The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the annual award was 
established in 2002 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. In February
2023 it was announced that the award would become [The King’s Award](https://kavs.dcms.gov.uk/).
It is equivalent to an MBE and is the highest honour awarded to voluntary groups.

Awarded to volunteer-led groups for their charitable endeavours, this year 227 organisations
from England, 20 from Scotland, six from Wales and nine from Northern Ireland have
received the first ever King’s Award. 

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

Sir Martyn Lewis CBE, the KAVS Chair said:

> “His Majesty The King has a well-known commitment to volunteering, and this year’s
> 262 King’s Awards for Voluntary Service honour truly impressive recipients across
> the length and breadth of the UK.
>  
> “The awardees work selflessly as groups of volunteers to address every conceivable
> kind of local issue across all our communities. We owe them huge congratulations,
> but also much more than that for the inestimable value they bring to our society.”

Recipients in England include:

 * [BEEP Doctors (BASICs) Cumbria](https://beepdoctors.co.uk/) – a local charity
   delivering free highly-skilled emergency medical care to seriously injured patients
   across rural and urban Cumbria. In 2022, it attended 262 call outs and dedicated
   1656 hours of volunteering. 
 * [Pegasus Men Wellbeing Centre in Redruth](https://pegasusmenswellbeing.co.uk/)–
   a support centre offering free one-to-one counselling and wellbeing support to
   those in Cornwall experiencing a range of issues. 
 * [Brill Village Community Herd](https://www.brillherd.co.uk/) – a volunteer group
   caring for a community-owned herd of cows grazing the common in the village of
   Brill, conserving the habitat and restoring biodiversity.
 * [Northumberland Log Bank](https://www.breamishvalley.com/northumberland-log-bank/)–
   a log bank for those in need due to financial constraints, poor health, advanced
   age or rural isolation in rural Northumberland, aiming to support around 300 
   households this winter.
 * [Isle of Wight Literary Festival](https://isleofwightliteraryfestival.com/) –
   a registered charity promoting literature to enhance the education and wellbeing
   of the Island community. They currently have 50 volunteers and the organisation
   also runs a Schools’ Programme for under 18s. 
 * [Wolverhampton ALZ Cafe](https://www.alzcafewolverhampton.com/) – a bi monthly
   gathering offering integrated support to people living with dementia, their families
   and the community in the West Midlands.
 * [Bangladeshi Youth Organisation](https://byobradford.org.uk/) – a community-rooted
   charity engaging the youth and community in Manningham, Bradford. Activities 
   and services aim to address educational underachievement, health inequalities,
   training and unemployment, community cohesion, isolation and loneliness.
 * [Notts LGBT+ Network](http://www.nottslgbt.com) – run entirely by volunteers,
   it has been supporting the LGBTQ+ community of Nottinghamshire since 1975, when
   it was known as the Nottingham Lesbian and Gay Switchboard. Over the last five
   decades, its volunteers have helped over 80,000 people and partnered with 100s
   of local businesses and organisations to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ related issues.

![](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2023/11/Notts_LGBT_Network_Pride2.jpg)

Volunteers from Notts LGBT+ Network at Notts Pride

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

> “Each year, millions of volunteers give up their time to provide care and support,
> and this award recognises those truly making a difference to the lives of others
> across the United Kingdom.
>  
> “It’s brilliant to see the King continue the legacy of Her Late Majesty and reward
> those who support their local communities with kindness and compassion. Congratulations
> to all those who have been awarded.”

From this year onwards, awardees will be announced annually on 14 November to mark
The King’s birthday.
The next round of awards will be assessed from December 2023
until May 2024, with the awardees announced in November 2024.

 * **[Campaign launches to encourage finance professionals to volunteer their skills](https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/12/04/campaign-launches-to-encourage-finance-professionals-to-volunteer-their-skills/)**(
   4 December 2023)
 * **[Half of UK adults plan to volunteer this year](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/01/10/half-of-uk-adults-plan-to-volunteer-this-year/)**(
   10 January 2024)
 * **[Overwhelmingly positive experience of volunteers revealed in new report](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/01/25/overwhelmingly-positive-experience-of-volunteers-revealed-in-new-report/)**(
   25 January 2024)