Council Leader congratulates local charities honoured in Queen’s Awards
The Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council has passed on his congratulations to two local charities, after they were honoured in this year’s Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service (QAVS), announced over the Jubilee weekend.
Parents Opening Doors (PODs) are based in central Telford and received the award, the voluntary-sector equivalent of an MBE, for their work to provide support for families with disabilities or additional needs.
The same honour was bestowed upon East Shropshire Talking Newspaper (ESTN), a charity based in Ketley that produces free audio versions of weekly local news for people in the area who are registered as blind or visually impaired.
Council Leader Shaun Davies (Labour), said: “It makes me very proud to see these two local voluntary organisations receiving recognition for their work, and for the difference they make to people’s lives, at the very highest national level.
“The work that Parents Opening Doors does, providing face to face support for families, reducing isolation and influencing the improvement of services is incredibly important and would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of all of the volunteers involved.
“East Shropshire Talking Newspaper is a free service helping local people with visual impairments keep up to date with what’s going on in the borough and wider afield. They have been providing their amazing talking newspaper service for more than 30 years, and are entirely made up of volunteers, so it is absolutely deserved that they should also be recognised in this year’s prestigious honours, the equivalent to an MBE.
“We recently honoured PODs locally, when they won the Best Community Support Group Award at our Community Pride Awards in April this year. However, now being awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the very highest award a voluntary group can receive, shows the importance of what these charities do, and the positive impact that they are both having on people’s lives. Congratulations and thank you for all that you do.”
