Four Essex voluntary groups receive The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services
2nd June 2021
Four voluntary groups from across the county who work in the community have been honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services (QAVS) aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit local communities. It 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.
Representatives of the groups receive the QAVS Award Crystal and a QAVS Certificate signed by Her Majesty the Queen from Her Majesty’s representative in the County, the Lord Lieutenant at a local ceremony. Two volunteers from the winning groups are invited to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2022 (depending on restrictions at the time), along with other recipients of this award.
The four winning groups from Essex are:
- Abberton Rural Training: this group provide local land based skills for vulnerable and isolated individuals and families in Essex.
- BATIAS Independent Advocacy Service: this group support people with learning disabilities to have their voices heard and inspire positive changes to lives, enabling those they support to become active citizens, and provide new life opportunities.
- Essex Police Special Constabulary: this group have over 520 volunteers who provide almost 204,000 hours of volunteer policing for the communities of Essex.
- Citizens Advice Southend: this group provide free, confidential and impartial advice to a wide range of people many of whom live in deprived areas.
The four groups from Essex are amongst 241 charities, social enterprises, and volunteer-led groups to receive the prestigious award this year across the UK. The number of nominations remains high year on year showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them.
This award is given to volunteer groups across the UK to recognise exceptional service within their communities. The recipients of the award are announced each year on 2 June – the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. The QAVS is considered as the MBE for voluntary groups.
The four Essex winners will receive the Award from Jennifer Tolhurst, Lord Lieutenant of Essex, later this year subject to the COVID-19 restrictions at the time.
Jennifer Tolhurst, Lord Lieutenant of Essex said: “The announcement of four winners of the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services, the highest national award for voluntary groups, across Essex is a wonderful tribute to the outstanding work of the voluntary sector.
“The number of awards won across Essex speaks volumes for the excellence of volunteering in our county and the increasing importance of the work of volunteers for community wellbeing. I am delighted that four extremely deserving groups, who are providing a wide range of services to our communities have been honoured by Her Majesty the Queen.
“I look forward to presenting the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services to each of the groups over the coming months, when the present restrictions allow, and to celebrate their success with their volunteers and many who receive their excellent service”.
Provide Foundation calls for grant applications
16th November 2020
We are inviting grant applications for up to £10,000 from the Provide Foundation.
Provide is an Essex based social enterprise owned by its staff members and delivers a broad range of community health services in the County. The Provide Foundation is managed by Essex Community Foundation (ECF), with the aim to improve and increase access to community health projects and services by supporting voluntary and community organisations working in Essex, Southend and Thurrock.
This year, the Provide Foundation would like to support organisations or projects that have a clear link to health and social care and meet one of the following objectives:
-continue to adapt well to help the community during the pandemic
-support those who are socially isolated, particularly those most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic
Links to health and social care can include:
-to help keep people out of hospital
-to help people leave hospital more quickly
-to help people stay healthy in their community
-to improve health and wellbeing in the community
The grants of up to £10,000 are available for up to one year and can support core and operating costs, project costs or capital items. Provide are particularly interested in projects that improves digital and technology for people to access projects and services.
The decision making panel is also interested to understand if your project complements their own work or whether you have contact with Provide’s services. For example, if you receive referrals from their staff. Please do include this detail in your application. For more information about Provide and their services click here.
Please complete your application here by 5pm on Friday 8 January and submit it with your supporting documents. The Provide Foundation will award grants in early March.
The deadline to apply for this Fund was on Friday 8 January at 5pm. To still apply for a grant, from another fund that we manage, please call our grants team on 01245 356018 to discuss your work.
Helping to raise a smile
4th November 2020
Families struggling to cope with life-threatening or long-term illnesses have had smiles brought back into their lives through the unique work of an award-winning organisation.
Grant a Smile, a not-for-profit community enterprise, was set up five years ago by former teacher Joyce Obaseki, who lives in Loughton.
The organisation, which had the accolade of a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service last year, has been given a grant of £11,540 from Essex Community Foundation’s Coronavirus Response and Recovery Programme.
The funding has given Grant a Smile’s work a vital boost in its quest to help families in need.
Joyce launched the organisation after discovering that no support was available for children like one of her pupils, who came to school in a dirty uniform because his mother, who had cancer, was too ill to provide him with clean clothes. The boy was being bullied at school because of his unkempt appearance and Joyce became determined to give youngsters like him the help they need.
Grant a Smile gives free practical support for eligible families whose home life is affected by serious illness. The organisation also aims to grant special wishes for children and has set its sights on expanding its work to help vulnerable and elderly people.
“The help we give can be life-changing, particularly for children who have had to become young carers because they have a parent who is seriously ill,” said Joyce.
“We go into the home and help with all kinds of chores, including cleaning, washing, ironing and gardening. This sort of support has a magical effect, once the house is in order it allows families to have less stressful lives with more time together, without the worry of all the jobs that need to be done.
“We have given this type of valuable help to a Mum who has cancer. One of her three children, a 10-year-old girl, who had been lively and bright as a button, had become mute and was missing out on school. The house was deteriorating, and the Mum was struggling to cope.
“As well as giving practical support in the home, we help with life skills too. We worked closely with the family and one of our volunteers, a mental health specialist and a life coach, gave psychological support.
“The 10-year-old started talking again and her school attendance improved. She doesn’t feel alone anymore and knows that people understand what she is going through. Although her Mum’s health may not get any better, we have been able to teach her how to handle things and she is not overwhelmed anymore.
“We are very grateful for the grant from Essex Community Foundation. There are so many families who need the type of help we can provide which is impossible to find elsewhere.”
The Coronavirus pandemic has meant that Grant a Smile, which has 36 volunteers, has had to prioritise its work to help the families in greatest need. They have been distributing food parcels throughout the pandemic and report a significant rise in referrals.
Joyce and her team of volunteers are tackling the current challenges and the future, with the knowledge that they are making a huge difference to people’s lives and that their work is needed more than ever.
New charitable fund to keep hearts beating in Essex
16th October 2020
A new charitable fund with its heart firmly in Essex has been launched with a pledge to spend money raised in the county on cardiac services for the county.
Essex Heart Fund has been set up by two local consultant cardiologists, Dr Gerald Clesham and Dr Thomas Keeble, along with charity specialist Fred Heddell, to bring major improvements to the lives of Essex heart patients and their families.
The fund will be managed by the highly respected independent charitable trust, Essex Community Foundation. Money donated to the Essex Heart Fund will only be spent in Essex, on community services and support groups, on the development of new hospital-based clinical services and to support local cardiovascular education and research.
Dr Clesham, who works at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford and at the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre in Basildon, said: “We know that the people of Essex are already very generous in donating to heart charities, however, only a tiny fraction of the money donated to national heart charities finds its way back to Essex. Our aim in setting up the Essex Heart Fund is to raise charitable funds for cardiac care in Essex and ensure that the money is spent in Essex.
“The fund will help support groups for patients and their families in the community, will fund new clinical services and will promote cardiovascular research and teaching in local hospitals and the community.
“Heart conditions are still the commonest causes of premature death and are a major cause of disability. Cardiac services in Essex serve a population of about 1.8 million people and we are confident that channelling more money into local services will result in an improved outcome for heart patients.”
Dr Clesham, who has been a consultant in Essex for 20 years, is president of the Chelmsford and District Cardiac Support Group and sees at first-hand how patients can often feel unsupported after being discharged from hospital.
“Helping patients in the community is a very effective way of keeping people well and the Essex Heart Fund will help cardiac patient support groups develop in Essex,” he said.
The fund will also enable new clinical services to be launched in Essex hospitals and the aim is for the NHS to commission the services when they have proved to be a success.
Locally based cutting-edge research and teaching in hospitals and the community will be another major area supported by the fund.
The initiatives will not only benefit patients but will also help with recruitment and retention of hospital staff, said Dr Clesham.
He and Dr Keeble, who works at Southend Hospital and the Cardiothoracic Centre in Basildon, will be active in the Essex community to promote the fund and provide education about heart health.
“The Essex Heart Fund will have its own identity and we are pleased to be working with Essex Community Foundation as our umbrella organisation to provide all the relevant charity governance, which enables us to concentrate on the areas we want to support,” said Dr Clesham.
To find out more about the new Essex Heart Fund and to make a donation visit: www.essexheartfund.org.uk
DONATE TO ESSEX HEART FUND:
To donate £5, text ESSEXHF to 70970
To donate £10, text ESSEXHF to 70191