The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, also known as The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service by Groups in the Community and The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award is an annual award given to groups in the

voluntary sector The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by organizations that are non-governmental nonprofit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit s ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Winning groups are announced in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

'' on 2 June each year, the anniversary of the

coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

. The award is equivalent to the

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

and is the highest award that can be made to a voluntary group. The award is managed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

History

The award was announced by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on 30 April 2002, in celebration of her Golden Jubilee, as part of her Golden Jubilee speech to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

and

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. The first awards were made in 2003.

Eligibility

With the majority of volunteers, groups of two or more people for volunteer work can be nominated, and more than half of the volunteers must have rights living in the UK. Their works must be on service, meets a need, supported, recognised and respected for and by the local community. The groups of volunteers must be running their service for three years or more.

Award

Nominations are made online and one award is given per three nominations on average. Winners receive a certificate signed by the Queen and a domed glass crystal. The volunteer group's representatives also may be invited to attend a royal garden party by the Queen.

Procedure for assessment and selection

Each nomination is first appraised in the county where the group works. This appraisal is led by the Lord Lieutenant, Her Majesty's representative in the county, helped by a County Assessment Panel of leading representatives from diverse sectors of the community. The Lord Lieutenant or their representatives, or both, may meet with the nominated group. A Specialist Assessment Panel of independent volunteering experts from across the UK judge nominated groups against the Award criteria, taking into account the first appraisal. The panel passes its recommendations to the Main Award Committee. The Main Award Committee advise the Cabinet Office and the Minister for Civil Society. The award is decided after the Queen has given her formal approval.

Recipients

, over 1,500 groups had received the award, including:

References

External links

Gov.uk websiteLondon Gazette page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen's Award For Voluntary Service British awards Awards established in 2002 Humanitarian and service awards 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom