The MBE for Volunteers

CARESCO was delighted to be awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in June 2022. This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and is equivalent to an MBE.

Tina Campbell, CARESCO’s Chairman, commented Receiving the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is a wonderful achievement that recognises the endless hard work and dedication that our staff and volunteers undertake to serve Sawtry and its neighbouring villages.

CARESCO’s General Manager, Emma Flanz, added: We are extremely honoured and proud to receive the Queen’s Award. CARESCO is a vital lifeline for many in our community. Our volunteers, both past and present, have kindly donated the most precious thing; their time and their talents. As everyone knows all too well, the pandemic has made life very challenging for the past two years, but thanks to our incredible team, we have kept going. This very coveted award is a fitting tribute to everyone who supports CARESCO.

Our activities are helped and supported by a team of around 140 volunteers who give freely of their time, skills and energy to do everything from making refreshments, driving or sorting out food donations through to fundraising or acting as trustees of the organisation.

Representatives from CARESCO will receive its award from Mrs Julie Spence OBE QPM, Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, later this summer. Furthermore, two volunteers from CARESCO will attend a special garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2023, together with other award recipients.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service was created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Recipients are announced each year on 2nd June; the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation.

For more about getting involved with CARESCO, visit our Volunteering with Us page, or download our leaflet.