Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

The hospice’s 500+ volunteers support us in so many ways; from patient and family support; to catering support; to office support; in our charity shops; to gardening; to fundraising support.

In normal times they are simply ‘here’ for us, at the hospice and in our Wirral Community. They’re part of the hospice family, they are, very often in fact, the ‘face’ of the hospice.

So, in October 2016, we were delighted when our dedicated volunteers were honoured with the official presentation of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

The prestigious award was presented by the Lord-Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dame Lorna Muirhead and graciously received by Mrs Sandra Fairclough and Ms Emma McKeown on behalf of the Hospice’s volunteers. Other dignitaries supporting the event were Deputy Lieutenants Colonel Martin Amlot and Mr Stephen Burrows, and Deputy Mayor, Mrs Ann McLachlan.

Photos from the night are in our Facebook album Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Presentation Evening which can be viewed even if you don’t have a Facebook account.

The award celebrated the contribution of all volunteers to the Hospice from its founding in 1983, to the 500 volunteers who today work tirelessly as a team, raising funds and providing support across all patient services and hospice support services. Volunteers work on site at the hospice, at patient homes, and in the community.

Carole Snow, the then Volunteer Services Manager at Wirral Hospice, together with hospice volunteers Ruth Hagerty, Olwen Saunders, Liz Munro, Marjorie Fagan, Norma Beaumont and Kath Kenyon, had earlier, in May 2016, attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday 24 May where they met the Queen and other winners of the award.

Julie Gorry, Chief Executive of Wirral Hospice said:

“It is a great honour for our volunteers to receive this award, which is recognition of the truly wonderful yet sometimes understated contribution volunteers make not only to the service we provide here at Wirral Hospice,  but to that of similar organisations across the country. It is perhaps even more special at this very exceptional time for the Queen. I would like to thank each one of our volunteers personally for the part they played in making this possible. I hope this accolade encourages more people across the Wirral to volunteer in an area of their choosing; the support really does make a difference.”  

Can you help us make that difference?

Find out more about volunteering with Wirral Hospice St John’s