Newsroom Archive

Telford Young Carers support children and young people who care for a family member. Their volunteers and befrienders provide individual support and positive activities to Young Carers. The volunteer 

Telford Young Carers are a project of Telford and Wrekin CVS. The project currently supports 352 children who care for a family member. Providing information, advice, guidance and respite activities for the children to have fun away from their caring role. The service could not operate without the huge support from their volunteers. 

Debbie Gibbon, Service Manager from Telford Young Carers, attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace on 24th May where she met the Queen and other winners of this year’s award. 

She said “It was a pleasure representing the project, our staff team, incredible people who volunteer for us and our Young Carers at the garden party.

"The award is in recognition of a great volunteer programme and the work that goes into the recruitment.  We are fortunate to have a dedicated member of the team Sue Puntis who provides all support to our volunteer programme including recruitment, training, supervision and continued support."

Telford Young Carers is one of 193 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of awards given to groups this year is slightly higher than last year, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to tackle community challenges.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their communities. The awards were created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and winners are announced each year on 2 June – the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.  

Award winners this year range from a War Memorial Community Trust, providing social facilities for the benefit of the community in Clwyd, Wales, to a club enhancing the community by developing individuals through athletics, in Ayrshire and Arran, Scotland.

Telford Young Carers will receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire later this summer.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Committee Chair, former broadcast journalist Sir Martyn Lewis said: “I warmly congratulate all of the inspirational voluntary groups who have been rewarded for their community work with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The judging panel for this year’s awards were struck by the quality and breadth of all the successful groups.

"The thousands of volunteers who give up spare time to help others in their community and to help solve problems demonstrate the very best of democracy in action.”

The Minister for Civil Society, Rob Wilson, said: “I would like to congratulate all groups who received this year’s Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, in recognition of their fantastic achievements.

"The huge amount of work and commitment these organisations put into their local communities is surpassed only by the passion and motivation of the individuals who volunteer. I hope these groups continue to inspire others to get involved and make a positive impact so that we can continue to build a more compassionate society.”

A second organisation in the borough - the Friends of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust -  has also won the same award