King’s Award for Voluntary Service

The volunteer team and myself as well as other staff and trustees were humbled and honoured to just be nominated for a QAVS in 2021, and when we were awarded it – we felt it was a badge to be worn with pride.  Future Living Hertford could not exist without its tireless volunteers, there have been literally hundreds of them over the years, all giving amazing service to vulnerable people in our community.  This award speaks volumes to Hertfordshire residents, our partners and funders.  It states very clearly that we are here to support those who need it the most without personal gain, and that ours is a trusted, safe space in which to recover – thank you.

For over 70 years Watford Social Centre for the Blind has been run completely voluntarily for the benefit of those with a visual impairment. None of the dozens of volunteers over the years have ever looked for recognition for the hours they dedicate to the charity and at our in-person support groups, but having been nominated, and then awarded, the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services we are so proud and delighted. The most important people within our charity are our VI members. The fact that some were involved in the nomination and were so delighted for us makes the award all the more special. To be recognised by the late Queen Elizabeth II to be worthy of the award is an amazing achievement for all the volunteers over the years.

As volunteers at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum, we know that we are making a useful contribution to the nation’s aviation heritage.

It was heartening that this was endorsed at the highest level.

The visit by the Duke of Gloucester to present the QAVS has given the de Havilland aircraft museum an enormous boost in several ways.

Volunteers are proud to display the badge on their lanyards and the logo is regularly featured in our promotional material, both on- and off-site and in the media. 

There is greater confidence in developing the museum. As well as more exhibits, we are offering demonstrations of the Merlin engine and will shortly open our Mosquito simulator experience and children’s play area.

It’s encouraging that the de Havilland Aircraft Museum is no longer one of Hertfordshire’s best-kept secrets.

It was an incredibly emotional and humbling feeling when we heard that we had been awarded our QAVS. Our volunteer family give endlessly and tirelessly of themselves to help us reach some of the most vulnerable older people across Hertfordshire. It filled us with a huge sense of pride that their work had been recognised in such a unique way and they were absolutely overjoyed when they heard the news. There were plenty of happy tears!

In terms of the difference the award has made to us, as an organisation and on a very personal level as CEO, it is a huge motivator and a driver to excel in everything we do. We are honoured to have received this award and feel a responsibility to maintain everything that it represents and to be an example and hopefully inspiration to others. We belong to a very special group of charities who have been recognised in this way and this gives confidence to others who help and support us that together we can make incredible things happen.

We look at our award certificate every day. With its now even more precious signature from The Queen, it is a constant reminder of what we can achieve working together and how special everyone who works with us is.

It is difficult to put into a few short sentences the enormous impact the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service has had on everything we do at Computer Friendly. It has given us an immense sense of pride, amplified our voice in the community, encouraged new volunteers to come forward, and we have been overwhelmed by all the good wishes from our partners, sponsors, supporters and clients.

Everyone felt an incredible sense of achievement at Computer Friendly in just being nominated, let alone being awarded the honour. It is a fantastic recognition of the hard work and time all the volunteers, past and present, have given to Computer Friendly and the community, since it was founded in 2002.

Using the Queens Award branding in our emails, documentation and website is a constant reminder of what we have achieved as well as the opportunity to broadcast our achievement to the world.

All at The Mudlarks Community were delighted to receive The Queens Award for Voluntary Service 2019.

Eleven years ago, Mudlarks Community was founded to integrate people with learning difficulties and mental health issues into the Hertford Community through gardening and at our cafe. We now welcome 196 people across many innovative projects. We have a brilliant group of over 60 volunteers that helps us achieve this. Each volunteer brings to Mudlarks a wealth of knowledge.

The beautiful glass award and certificate signed by the Queen now takes pride of place on the counter of The Mudlarks Café in Railway Street Hertford. Proudly positioned for all our café customers to see.

I am so pleased that our volunteer’s much-valued contribution towards The Mudlarks Community has been recognised by Her Majesty the Queen.

Being honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2018 has had such a positive impact on our work at Mediation Hertfordshire.

It has helped to raise the profile of our work in the field of conflict resolution and it has also provided recognition of the value of mediation services to the community.

Most importantly it is a special tribute to the contribution of our volunteer mediators who work so hard to help others who are suffering from conflict.

We were lucky enough to be nominated for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service by our outgoing mayor and this triggered a phase of scrutiny of our operation by two deputy lieutenants:  this effectively gave us a valuable free audit of our internal processes and procedures. 

After a period of suspense came first the wonderful news and then some frenzy as we re-planned our annual, simple volunteers’ ‘thank you’ party to make it a really special celebration.  We were able to showcase our service to the local community as well as the Lord Lieutenant who presented us with the award.

But above all, holding the award is a real long term asset, boosting our ability to attract new volunteers, attract project funding and client groups for our accessible boat trips. We’d commend the QAVS scheme to any confident all-volunteer charity. 

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service was very much appreciated by members of HertsWatch Committee as a reward for all their efforts and was very good for morale generally.  

After receiving the award,  the District coordinators seemed to be more enthusiastic about their work and membership seemed to increase at an even greater rate! Many of them commented that it had brought respect from partner agencies that somehow didn’t seem to be there before.

The individual badges we bought for the District Coordinators are still being worn with pride, especially at local NHW events and functions.  Many people comment on the badge and ask us what we received it for, so it gives us an opening to explain NHW and the benefits of membership.  

We had to work hard for the award but it was certainly worth the effort to gain such a coveted award.