Award Winning Volunteers – The Queens Award for Voluntary Service.
We are delighted to announce that we have been honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. The recipients of this prestigious Award, which aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities, were announced Wednesday 2 June.
We provide free advice, support and specialist information to blind and sight impaired residents throughout West Sussex. Our team of over 200 volunteers undertakes many diverse roles in helping us deliver our services to over 2,000 people aged 4 to 100+ each year. Last year our volunteers offered over 1000 hours which included over 5000 phone calls to members, working to help people with sight loss to stay active and independent and feel less isolated during the most challenging and uncertain times. In this respect, we is doubly honoured to receive an additional ‘Special Recognition – Covid 19′ Commendation, awarded to those who provided impactful support to the community in response to the pandemic.
We are one of only four charities in West Sussex to receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service this year, out of a total of 241 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups across the UK. The Award was created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee and recipients are announced each year on 2nd June, the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation.
We are very proud of our amazing team of dedicated volunteers; they and their hundreds of predecessors have always been at the heart of this Charity’s work.
It is particularly profound to receive the Award in this our 100th Anniversary year, especially after the recent challenges we have faced.
Just a couple of examples of our volunteers’ efforts include the continuation of an invaluable service by repairing talking watches remotely, and a team that packed nearly 2000 Kindness Packs which contained a range of items including large print crosswords, tea and biscuits or activity books and hot chocolate for its younger members.
From making regular welfare calls to members, to supporting with virtual clubs, making tea and chatting to members at our Social clubs, packing newsletters, to driving our minibuses; all our volunteers are invaluable and we are truly grateful for everything they do to support the Charity and its members and all the staff.
I know that this news will mean so much to each and every one of them!
Representatives of 4Sight Vision Support will receive the award crystal and certificate from The Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Mrs Susan Pyper later this summer. Furthermore two volunteers will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2022 (depending on restrictions at the time), along with other recipients of this year’s Award.
