The Garden of Reflection, Pump Street, Derry~Londonderry was the venue on Friday 14th September 2018, for the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVs) ceremony recognising the significant contribution of one of the city’s local voluntary groups.
The Churches Trust has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for voluntary groups in the UK, in recognition of their significant voluntary activities within the city and the wider North West community.
The Churches Trust were one of four local organisations from Derry~Londonderry recognised in 2018 QAVS Awards, the others being Britannia Concert Band, Foyle Child Contact Centre and Caw and Nelson Drive Action Group.
The Lord Lieutenant for the County Borough of Londonderry, Dr Angela Garvey, was joined by a number of Church Leaders in what was a significant celebration of the contribution by this group to all sections of society within the city and the wider community.
In welcoming the Lord Lieutenant, Church Leaders, recipients and guests Martin Agnew Chair of Churches Trust expressed his delight at receiving this prestigious award in recognition of the work of the Churches Trust and its volunteers. The Churches Trust was established by the leaders of the Methodist, /Presbyterian, Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic Churches in Derry~Londonderry over 30 years in response to a recognition of the level of deprivation in the area and the necessity to work together to provide essential services to those in need.
Prior to presenting the Awards the Lord Lieutenant Dr Garvey commended the Award winners for their outstanding contribution to volunteering within the City and recognised that for the City to receive four awards out of the total of 250 awards presented nationally was a significant testament to the work of these groups in support of all sections of society. She expressed her gratitude to the many organisations involved in volunteering throughout the City and looked forward to further QAVS nominations in years to come.
In congratulating the award recipients the Chief Executive, Fiona Fagan, also recognised the outstanding work the Churches Trust undertook in the provision of much needed voluntary services for those in need within the city and the wider community.
In responding to the award, Martin Agnew Chair of the Churches Trust added that it was a great honour for the Churches Trust to receive this significant national recognition for which he and all volunteers within Churches Trust are greatly humbled. The chair went on to say “we are extremely proud and honoured to have been recognised for this very significant national award, which would not have been possible without the commitment, energy and support of all our volunteers".
