2004 Award Winners

A-H | I-Q | R-Z

African Youth Organisation

Established 10 years ago, this organisation promotes the advancement of education of children and young people in Newham, East London, in national curriculum subjects, training and African culture and languages. It also encourages their moral development by providing information and advice in matters relating to health, sex education, crime and drug abuse.

The AYO runs supplementary education classes for those aged between 5 and 16 years, and training courses on employability skills, information technology, customer relations and stock control. Young people are encouraged to develop their artistic and creative talents through drama, dance, poetry and storytelling, as well as exhibitions, fashion shows and music and drumming workshops.

Much of the AYO’s work has been self-funded with money raised from a charity shop run by the volunteers. It also operates a PC recycling scheme, which sells PCs at affordable prices to the most excluded members of the community.

Contact: 020 7476 5183 / 5527

Age Concern Knaresborough

Opened in 1982 as a very small organisation, the group relocated to a purpose-built centre two years ago, where they can provide every element of care for the elderly, including computer and exercise classes, day care, a housebound library service and general advice. In addition to the 100 day care places available every week, the group also supports approximately 230 people a year through community support schemes.

Without the active participation of its 150 volunteers, it would be difficult to provide the services required by local elderly people, some of whom cannot leave their own homes. Age Concern Knaresborough works to ensure that they not only receive sufficient care, but that they continue to have access to changes in the outside world.

Brenda Dixon, Chief Officer at Age Concern Knaresborough said: "The volunteers here work extremely hard simply in order to give something back to the local community. The Award is a recognition of what they have achieved and they are all very proud to have won it and for long-term volunteers it means the services they are providing are considered to be of an extremely high standard and really having an impact."

Contact: 01423 864956

Age Exchange

Set up in 1983, this national charity uses reminiscences to help older people adjust to their surroundings, as well as educating young people about recent history. Run by almost 80 volunteers, the Age Exchange Reminiscence Centre in Blackheath, London is open six days a week from 10am – 5pm with 20,000 visitors a year.

Volunteers assist the trained reminiscence workers with small groups of people in the early stages of dementia to help reawaken hidden memories. They take part in theatrical shows, acting out war-time or earlier experiences - bringing back memories for older people.

The volunteers also talk to young people and go into schools to help pupils learn about the past and understand what it was like to have lived through the Blitz or worked in London’s docklands. The Centre is full of historical artefacts and has a volunteer-run café.

Some Age Exchange volunteers are elderly themselves and by getting involved, they too have become part of community and feel valued.

Paddy Ross, Executive Director of Age Exchange said: “Our volunteers are overjoyed about having won The Queen’s Award as they are very valued in the community, and it’s good to see them getting wider recognition. It is very important for young people to know how the elderly spent their lives".

Contact: 020 8318 9105

All Saints Church Community Centre

Opened in 2000, funded by the Millennium Commission, lottery money and others, this project provides a venue for local groups to meet and plays a vital role in the community. Run daily by 13 volunteers and three paid staff, the centre has an open door policy and sees around 320 people weekly.

Volunteers, run the coffee shop, assist at functions and give their time to help many organisations who use the facilities. These include support groups for Parkinson’s and mental illness and for elderly people; classes in art, yoga and computer studies; clubs for beavers and cubs, mother and toddler groups and youth groups. It is also a meeting place for the Youth Offending Team and an access meeting place for divorced parents, cementing the Centre at the heart of the community.

Treve James, Outreach Community Development Officer at the Centre said: “Cornwall is often thought of as an idyllic place, but there is social deprivation here as much as anywhere else. We’ve always seen this project as a flagship that can be used as an example to other communities, so winning the Queen’s Award is a big boost for us and for Cornwall as a whole.”

Contact: 01209 610260

Alness in Bloom

Officially started in 1995, Alness in Bloom is an independent group of 30 volunteers who use flowers and plants to enhance the environment in their small market town in Scotland. With their hard work and commitment, the volunteers have changed Alness, previously smothered with graffiti, fly posting and litter.

They have made the High Street more attractive, with hanging baskets outside shops, street cleaning and by getting rid of fly posting. Alness is now in tourist guides as a place of interest due to its clean environment and pretty floral displays. In addition, the retail community has been boosted, as people now come to the area to shop. Flowerbeds have also been planted in housing schemes for the elderly. The whole community has benefited from the work of the volunteers who help clean up the town every day.

Carolyn Wilson, Chairman of the Group said: “It is wonderful to have received such a prestigious Award, especially one that rewards the work of the whole group rather than of individuals. All the volunteers have been recognized for the hard work they’ve done, and their contribution to the community. Alness would not be what it is today without their dedication and hard work.”

Contact: 01349 884812

The Birmingham Chinese Society

Established in 1988, the Society was set up to teach English to the Chinese community in Birmingham. Over the years, it has grown to become a more diverse organisation with 19 volunteers helping paid staff in the provision of a wide range of services and business training courses to assist young and old in finding employment. Advice and assistance on family, social, health and welfare issues as well as a translation service are some of the key services now available.

The organisation of cultural events have helped non-Chinese communities to understand and appreciate the culture and customs of Chinese people, which also assists in the integration of the Chinese and Oriental community into mainstream society.

Contact: 0870 2030099

Brent Indian Community Centre

The Centre was established over 25 years ago to provide vital network information accessible to all members of the community, and in particular, elderly people. It was set up by a small group of volunteers who identified the needs of immigrants arriving in an unfamiliar community in the London Borough of Brent. Premises were acquired and it is now a thriving community centre successfully serving local people.

With the help of 25 volunteers, the Centre offers a wide range of activities for all age groups, including a lunch club for older people and those with disabilities, mother-tongue language classes for the young, and computer training sessions. It also offers an important advice service that addresses education, housing, employment, health and immigration issues.

The Centre also provides a meeting place for the community in Brent through religious and cultural activities, thereby ensuring all generations retain their cultural identity and roots.

Contact: 020 8459 1107

Court Meadow Group Riding for the Disabled Association

Established 27 years ago, the group is now staffed by 30-40 volunteers who provide riding as therapy for children with severe learning difficulties. Sixty-six pupils at Court Meadow School are beneficiaries of the group’s activities, including riding tuition and basic stable management which are targeted to meet each child’s own needs.

The Group could not operate without the support of its volunteers who enjoy enabling children to learn. Three weekly-groups are held to provide therapy for youngsters between the ages of 3 and 19 who have learning difficulties, giving them a new sense of self-confidence while providing recreational therapy.

Jean Musson, Group Instructor said: “Our volunteers do some really lovely work with the school, helping the pupils in such an invaluable way. The Court Meadow Group is just one of many Riding for the Disabled Association groups who all do valuable work in providing riding as therapy for children with severe learning difficulties. It is fantastic that our volunteers are being recognised in this way. Such recognition should help to raise the profile for Riding for the Disabled groups across the country.”

Contact: 01444 483324

CYMROD Clwb Teithio Travel Club

Set up in 1994, the club allows greater independence for disabled people and those with mobility problems in the Dwyfor area of Gwynedd to organize their own travel.

It enables people, who would not otherwise be able to leave their homes, to visit doctors, dentists, day care centres, go to church, go shopping or generally socialise.

The six Committee members, all of whom are disabled, employ three part time staff – two drivers and a support worker – and have three volunteer helpers, who between them have arranged annual journeys of over 2,300 miles for the Club’s 250 members.

Contact: 01758 614311

Derbyshire Dales Careline

The Careline service was set up in 1998 because many elderly, disabled and housebound people in the rural South Derbyshire Dales lived alone, sometimes in extreme isolation, making an already vulnerable group doubly at risk.

Operating from St. Oswald’s Hospital in Ashbourne, volunteers make a daily telephone call to have a chat, check that all is well and give information and help, sometimes by contacting other services. A brief daily record is kept so that patterns of illness or anxieties are highlighted and people’s contacts are alerted if necessary. If no reply is received to a call, Careline pursues the matter to a satisfactory conclusion.

The Hospital advises Careline when patients who live alone are being discharged, so that they can make contact. Other referrals are from GPs, Social Services, Health Workers, vicars, milkmen, travelling hairdressers or friends. 50 volunteers, mostly recruited by word of mouth, make the daily calls to about 80 individuals.

Every June the group holds a Strawberry Tea for the volunteers and service-users to meet, put faces to voices and to chat.

Contact: 07970 679190; email: ddcareline@hotmail.com

Genuine Empowerment of Mothers in Society

GEMS is a grassroots-led organisation established 5 years ago, working to empower women, especially mothers, from disadvantaged and marginalised communities, helping them to lead independent and rewarding lives. Seven volunteers help provide free advice, advocacy and practical support to women and their children enabling them to access the appropriate services to deal with health, education, employment or domestic issues. Personal development training courses are also available to assist people into work.

GEMS has helped women from other communities in London set up their own self-help support groups, for example a Sudanese Mothers' Group and a Nubian Mother's Group.

Contact: 07855 197349

Golden Lion Children's Trust

Founded 31 years ago by a group of Gatwick Airport employees, the Trust started by taking disabled and disadvantaged children on flights for a day - to destinations ranging from Jersey and Le Touquet to Amsterdam and Rovaniemi (to visit the real Father Christmas). Residential visits followed to destinations including The Gambia, Denmark, Texas, Colorado and Florida.

The Trust has never enjoyed corporate sponsorship - but is responsible for its own fund-raising. Organising flights is cost-prohibitive today, so the Trust now runs a wide variety of projects, ranging from visits to theatre, pantomime, ballet and cinema; Thorpe Park and Legoland trips; fishing trips; mountain bike riding; sandcastle competitions; and Christmas parties.

The group - currently nine committee members and 75 volunteers - also assists special needs units and schools to buy equipment as well as helping individuals to acquire specialist equipment from time to time.

The aim of the charity has always been, and continues to be, to "bring a little magic in to the life of a child with special needs".

Contact: 01273 891963

Goring Gap News

Established 16 years ago, Goring Gap News is a monthly 40-page news magazine covering the twin villages of Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire and Streatley, Berkshire, which face each other across the Thames. Produced to a very high standard by a team of volunteers, the magazine is noted for the quality of its writing and presentation, and is also valued for the role it plays in uniting the two villages.

The magazine covers sporting and business news, activities and events of local interest and letters from readers. It also features items of historical and current interest such as the Goring Regatta and the Jazz Festival or the recent renewal of the lock gates. Photographs play an important role, particularly on the front cover and the centre spread. A dedicated band of 50 volunteers deliver the magazine to every house in the two villages.

Advertisements in the Goring Gap News fund the cost of production and also enable it to support worthy local causes. It can also play an important role in keeping people up to date on contentious issues such as planning applications, although it is careful not to take sides.

Contact: 01491 873977

Guth Airson Iarrtasan Nis (GAIN)

The name translates into English as “A voice for the needs of Ness”.

This unique play and leisure facility in the most northerly tip of the Isle of Lewis, is the inspiration of a group of mothers whose children had no local playground.

GAIN was formed in 1998 when a strong desire for a playpark was expressed and demonstrated through research. The group worked hard to involve the community, liaise with statutory and voluntary organisations and local groups, secure funding and build a visionary park on an area of wasteland.

Throughout the project, local children assisted in the planning, design and project phases and enthusiastically helped with fund raising. GAIN is currently working with a group of teenagers to incorporate heritage items into the park.

Eoropie Dunes Park, which includes a fully fenced playground for 0-12 year olds, environmental areas and an illustrated nature trail, a cycle skateboard zone, a maze a play area for older children, gained international recognition from the International Play Association in September 2002 with a Rights to Play Award.

Contact: info@gainplayground.co.uk

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