A voluntary group from West Lothian who work in the community to provide sporting and social opportunities for children and young people with a disability has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.
The club operate a multi sports club which meets weekly at Linlithgow, a Boccia Club which meets weekly at Bathgate and in conjunction with Lothian Disability Sport do Archery for the Disabled at Blackburn Community Centre. They also organise Ten Pin Bowling Competitions in Livingston and weekend and weeklong activity holidays/breaks.
Anne and Stuart Gurney from No Limits attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace/ on 20th May where they met the Queen and other winners of this year’s award.
No Limits is one of 187 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of awards handed out to groups have increased by over 60% from 2014, due to an increase in high quality applications, 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 Ablaze, a charity helping to raise academic achievement amongst disadvantaged young people in Bristol to a volunteer rescue boat service on Loch Lomond.
No Limits will receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of West Lothian later this summer.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Committee Chair, former broadcast journalist Martyn Lewis CBE 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 best of democracy in action.”
Paul Weddell, the club’s secretary said “The Club are extremely proud and feel honoured by such a prestigious award, we are shortly going to celebrate our 20th anniversary and our success has all been down to the commitment of parents, carers and volunteers. The voluntary sector is very strong in West Lothian and there are numerous opportunities to get involved in lots of different areas. We work closely with other voluntary bodies and we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us in the past.”