The Rural Coffee Caravan is excited and delighted to announce that we are recipients of The Queens Award for Voluntary Service 2019. This is such a huge honour and a wonderful reward for our amazing volunteers, it is the equivalent of an MBE for voluntary groups!
Founder of the charity, Sally Fogden, and Rural Coffee Caravan Director, Ann Osborn, had a few words for our volunteers:
“We simply couldn’t do it without you and you are beyond price. Thank you to all those who:-
Help us deliver the visits, help put on events, bake for us, act as our champions in the villages, do pro bono work for us, run our website, house our caravan between visits and so much more – including a special thank you to Sally Connick of CAS, without whom #MeetUpMondays might still be just a dream!
You are all amazing and this is for you!”
“Loneliness is something we need to keep addressing, we need to overcome it. We have to learn that we are the medicine that each other needs.”
Representing the ‘Coffee Caravan, our volunteer, Chris Hamilton, who has been towing the caravan for us for 12 years, and his wife Jen, attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May, along with other recipients of this year’s Award.
The Rural Coffee Caravan is one of 281 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of nominations and awards has increased year on year since the awards were introduced in 2002, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them. More information on the winners and the Award can be found at The Queens Award for Voluntary Service
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Winners are announced each year on 2 June – the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse. As well as our own mobile community cafe and information service, they include volunteers helping people overcome mental health problems through sport, and a group mentoring children who have a parent in prison.
Representatives of the ‘Coffee Caravan will receive the award from Clare, Countess of Euston, Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk later this summer. The Lord Lieutenants represent the monarch in each of the UK’s ceremonial counties.
Any group of two or more people that has participated in voluntary work for more than three years can be nominated for the award. We have some amazing volunteers and volunteer organisations in Suffolk – so let’s get voting and bring some more awards home to Suffolk next year! Full details on how to nominate are available at http://qavs.direct.gov.uk/ . Nominations for the 2020 awards close on 13 September 2019.
