Age UK wins Queen's Award for volunteering

Age UK is one of 60 organisations to have been recognised with The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012, the Cabinet Office and Buckingham Palace announced today.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award celebrates a Great British year of volunteering, recognising 60 organisations which have successfully harnessed the hard work, commitment and generosity of volunteers to change Britain for the better.

The Award recognises well known voluntary groups which have made a contribution throughout The Queen's 60-year reign, alongside newer organisations that engaged volunteers specifically to support the Olympic and Paralympic Games and to build on the sporting legacy of London 2012.

Among the household names honoured are Age UK, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, St John's Ambulance, Victim Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Girlguiding UK. By training hundreds of thousands of volunteers, they have raised millions of pounds and have offered a huge amount of support to those in need. 

'Volunteering is fundamental to British life'

Martyn Lewis CBE, Chairman, Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012 Committee, said: 'Day-in, day out volunteers are making a contribution to every aspect of our society - working with the elderly, supporting young people and reaching out to those in need. Volunteering is as fundamental to British life as rain at Wimbledon or the local pub - and what better way to recognise it than with an Award from Her Majesty in her Diamond Jubilee year.'

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, said: 'The list of recipients of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award for Volunteering 2012 reads like a Who's Who of some of our most important charities and voluntary organisations. It is a testament to the enduring strength and immeasurable contribution of volunteers over the past sixty years.

'The 2012 Olympics brought volunteering firmly, and deservedly, into the spotlight. The stories behind these Awards show what people can achieve when they come together and I hope they will inspire more people to come forward to contribute, and gain from, all that volunteering offers.'

60 awards for 60 years

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012 was announced in February 2012 to commemorate Her Majesty's sixty-year reign by recognising voluntary groups that operate across the UK or in the one of the four home nations.

It is a special, one-off, category of The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), which was established in 2002 as part of the UK honours system to recognise the work of grassroots organisations at a local level. During the past 10 years, over 1000 community groups and local charities have received this prestigious honour.

A representative selection of recipients will attend a special reception in Whitehall tonight, while Buckingham Palace will hold a reception next year for recipients of this Award and to recognise 10 years of The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General at Age UK, commented: 'We are delighted to receive the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award which brings wider recognition to the important contribution of volunteers, who make such a huge difference to so many lives.'

'Volunteers play a crucial role in Age UK's vital work for older people across the country, running all sorts of activities from serving food at lunch clubs to sorting stock in our 440+ high street shops.'