Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service presentation to Festival Drayton Centre on 11 August 2014
News from our partners Shropshire Lieutenancy Office
The Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire will be presenting the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to the Festival Drayton Centre on Monday 11 August 2014.
The presentation is at 6.30pm at the Festival Drayton Centre in Frogmore Road, Market Drayton.
About the Award
Her Majesty the Queen created the annual awards for voluntary service organisations to celebrate her Golden Jubilee, and they were originally called The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Awards. The awards recognise and reward excellence in voluntary activities carried out by groups in the community. They are given for outstanding achievement by groups of volunteers who regularly devote their time to helping others in the community, improve the quality of life and opportunity for others, and provide an outstanding service. The Queen’s Award is equivalent in status for voluntary groups as an MBE is for individuals and is the highest accolade awarded to voluntary groups.
Festival Drayton Centre
The Festival Drayton Centre is owned and run by the community of Market Drayton and has been since 1984. It has solely evolved as a direct result of the time, dedication and commitment of its many volunteers. The Centre is a classic example of a group which is volunteer-led. The Centre provides activities for a broad and wide spectrum of community needs including dance classes, martial arts, adult educational courses, a licensed coffee shop and a state of the art cinema and theatre. In addition to these arts and leisure activities there are rooms that are hired by numerous local businesses and associations. The Centre is one of the very best assets for the town of Market Drayton and surrounding areas. The Centre provides a vital meeting place for community groups, with the Coffee Shop being a favourite place to meet for so many people. The average footfall through the building is approximately 2,500 per week.
Geoff Vernon, Festival Drayton Chairman, said:
“This is fantastic news. For our team to be recognised in this way is brilliant, and we are all thrilled by the award. This accolade is not only for the 110 volunteers we have today, but also for all those who have contributed to our development and success since 1984. There is no doubt that the volunteers are the very core of the Centre and create the atmosphere, environment and level of service which is so important in all our activities. We would like to think this good news will be a great morale boost for Market Drayton and the whole community, and will inspire more volunteers to come forward, find out more about us, and join the happy team to help the Centre’s success to continue.”
