Warwickshire County Council and the Warwickshire Lieutenancy are encouraging residents to submit nominations for volunteering groups, charities, and social enterprises across the County whose exceptional efforts deserve to be recognised by The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS).

The QAVS is an annual award acknowledging the outstanding work delivered by volunteers who benefit their local communities and is the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

Originally set-up to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's Golden Jubilee, the next successful QAVS nominees will be awarded in 2022, which is both Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the 20th anniversary of the QAVS.

The Award is presented each year on the 2nd June to coincide with the anniversary of the Queen's coronation. All Awardees receive a certificate signed by the Queen, a domed glass crystal, and may also be invited to attend a royal garden party.

The most recent QAVS in Warwickshire was awarded to Guy's Cliffe Walled Garden Trust, for volunteers' services in restoring and developing Guy's Cliffe Walled Garden as a local community and educational resource. Previous Warwickshire awardees have also included, but are not limited to, Cohort4 in North Warwickshire, The Friendship Project for Children in Warwick District, Neighbourhood Watch in Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough, Escape Arts in Stratford-on-Avon District, and Friends of St. Cross Hospital in Rugby Borough.

Cllr Heather Timms, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Heritage, Culture and the Environment, said:

"The volunteers across Warwickshire have, and continue to, make an essential contribution to our local communities. The past eighteen months has been a fantastic example of how our local volunteers have risen to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting vulnerable people, delivering food and prescriptions, offering essential transport, and befriending those shielding or in isolation.

"We also have volunteers across the County who are involved in supporting a variety of sectors, such as protecting, preserving, and promoting our environment, providing for the elderly and supporting young people, or offering emotional and physical support to those in need.

"We would like to thank Warwickshire's volunteers for their time and dedication in supporting this County and believe it's important that their efforts and contributions are recognised. One great way to support this recognition is to nominate a group for The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service".

Mr Timothy Cox, Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, said: "The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service celebrates its 20th year in 2022, and so even more so this year we are keen to discover all of the wonderful groups and charities who carry out such excellent voluntary work across the county.

"As the highest achievement that any charity or volunteer group can obtain, and considered as equivalent to an MBE, we would be delighted to receive residents' support in finding these wonderful groups and individuals to put them forward for this national honour".

Any group of two or more people doing volunteering work can be nominated for the award. The majority of the group must be volunteers, and more than half the volunteers must have the right to live in the UK. Volunteer groups should have been running for three years or more to be nominated.

The volunteer group cannot nominate themselves; they must be nominated by someone else.

The nominator must be:

a member of the public with a good knowledge of the group's work (such as a beneficiary or long-term supporter)

able to supply two separate letters of support from two additional people who know the group well.

The nominee should do work that provides a service, and meets a need for people living in the local community. They should be supported, recognised and respected by the local community, and the people who benefit from it are local.

The deadline to submit QAVS nominations is Wednesday 15 September 2021.

To nominate a volunteer group for this Award, visit here.

For support in completing a nomination, contact Warwickshire Lieutenancy at [email protected], phone 01926 412328, or write to Dr Eric Wood, Deputy Lieutenant, Shire Hall, Warwick, CV34 4RL.

To find out more about the QAVS, visit here.