This year two groups of Island volunteers have been honoured with The King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS); this is the highest award that a voluntary group can receive in the UK and is the equivalent of an individual being awarded an MBE.
The Isle of Wight Literary Festival has been recognised for its contribution to the education, cultural life and wellbeing of the community. Organised and stewarded entirely by volunteers, over 2,000 visitors attend 50 lectures over a four-day period each autumn.
Those attending are given a great opportunity to study new areas of learning and to broaden their reading. The festival also supports a Schools’ Programme, which takes authors, illustrators, poets, and story tellers into schools to educate, entertain and inspire pupils.
This year over 3,000 pupils benefitted from the programme. Maggie Ankers, chair of trustees said,
“It is an honour to receive this prestigious award, which recognises and celebrates the enormous amount of work done by our volunteers to create this outstanding cultural event.”
Sandown and Shanklin Independent Lifeboat
Also recognised this year is the Sandown and Shanklin Independent Lifeboat (SSILB), which has existed in its current form for over thirty years, though the history of an independent lifeboat on the Island goes back to 1868, when Sunday School children raised £168 to buy our first boat.
The lifeboat is called out some 40 times a year, thereby alleviating distress and saving dozens of lives at sea. The SSILB also benefits the tourist economy by providing safe beaches for holiday visitors and supports the community by educating young people about safety at sea.
This charity receives no central funding and is entirely responsible for raising its own funds. Mark Birch lifeboat coxswain said,
“We are truly honoured to receive this award; it means so much to us and recognises the hard work of the crew and fundraisers over the years. This is the best accolade we could have wished for.”
Recognising outstanding work by volunteer groups
The Island winners are amongst only 262 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the award this year. The King’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 late Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
The awards are announced annually on 14th November to coincide with the King’s birthday. Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse and include volunteer groups from across the UK, such as a social support network for disabled adults in Banffshire; a charity using a refurbished pool as a community hub in south Wales; volunteer doctors providing pre-hospital care across rural Cumbria and a village renewal organisation promoting sustainability, equality and social inclusion in County Antrim.
36 Awards over 20 years
Over the last twenty years Island voluntary groups have won 36 Awards, which is most impressive for such a small county. Representatives of our winning groups will receive their awards from Susie Sheldon, His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, later this year; and two volunteers from each group will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May or June 2024.
The Lord-Lieutenant commented,
“I am delighted that the hard work of volunteers on the Island has been recognised again with these awards. I thank our two winners for their contribution to our community and congratulate them on this success.”
Anybody can nominate a group of volunteers for this award; information about this can be found on the Isle of Wight Lieutenancy website.
News shared by Janet on behalf of Isle of Wight Literary Festival. Ed
