Volunteer groups receive royal recognition

Hinckley Concordia Theatre and Leicestershire Search and Rescue have been honoured with the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

They were part of the 230 awards that have been given across the country to charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups.

The Hinckley Concordia Association and their team of over 300 volunteers have been producing theatre productions and hosting community events for almost 50 years.

Judy Peatfield, Trustee and Theatre Publicity Officer, spoke of what the award means to them: "We are immensely proud and honoured to receive the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.This pays tribute to the hard work and commitment of all our volunteers who have given their skills, talents and time freely over every area of the complex.  Their work over the past half century has been invaluable in providing a thriving voluntary run community theatre for performing arts and a local community activity hub.   Without them we simply would not be able to do what we do.  On behalf of everyone who enjoys a visit to Concordia, we would like to thank and congratulate each and every one of our volunteers, past and present."

Leicestershire Search and Rescue are a team of volunteers that are called upon to assist the emergency services in searches for missing people in the local area.

They currently have 48 volunteers who can be called upon at any time of the day or night. 

Simon Headley, Chairman and Search Manager, said of their win; "We are absolutely delighted to be recognised. The team are proud to be a part of the communities of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. We respond to many incidents across the area supporting people in their times of need and we are proud of what we do. Our team members are all volunteers from many different backgrounds who give up their own free time which for a Search and Rescue Team is a big commitment. The team continues to go from strength to strength."

The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service recognises outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities and is the highest award a voluntary organisation can receive in the UK.

Representatives of each winning organisation will receive the award from Mike Kapur, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire later this summer.

Mike Kapur said: "I am delighted for the staff and volunteers of Mountsorrel Heritage Centre, Leicestershire Search and Rescue and The Hinckley Concordia on achieving the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. In the last 18 months I have had the pleasure of meeting all three organisations to learn at first hand of the incredible work they do. This award is only given to those groups of volunteers that demonstrate they are outstanding in their achievements and our three winners are a very deserving of this highest of accolades."