Andy Drozdziak
Bishop John Arnold has hailed the ‘great achievement’ of Caritas Salford winning a prestigious award in the first King’s Awards to be presented since The King’s accession.
Caritas Salford were this week awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service-the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and the equivalent to an MBE.
Bishop of Salford John Arnold, the chair of Caritas Salford, said: “This is a great achievement and an honour, and I am most grateful for the recognition of the excellent work done by our volunteers.
“The work of our volunteers is a clear demonstration of care and compassion in action and has a very practical impact on the lives of people in need. What an important example they give in caring for our brothers and sisters and our common home.”
Created in 2002 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee, the King’s Award is presented to charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups across the UK, as a reminder of the effective ways volunteers contribute.
Patrick O’Dowd, director of Caritas Salford, said: “It’s an incredible honour for our amazing volunteers to be recognised by King Charles in this way.
“We always thank our volunteers for everything they do to help us as we work alongside people experiencing crisis in our communities. But to have this wonderful recognition from the King is unbelievable – we’re very excited and it makes me proud to be part of the Caritas team.”
Volunteers from Caritas Salford will receive the award crystal and certificate, and two members of the group will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace next summer.
Meanwhile, Caritas Salford has launched a special appeal encouraging people to support those in need in Greater Manchester and Lancashire this Christmas. The appeal launched with a specially created animation, including voices of children from across the area, which has already been viewed over 800 times: www.caritassalford.org.uk/beethere
Patrick O’Dowd said: “We’re hoping this latest appeal will spark people’s imaginations and spur them on to think about small changes they can make that would make a big difference to the lives of others in their community – just like our volunteers do.”
Featuring the voices of local children, the animation shows how everyone deserves a chance at fulfilling their dreams and encourages people to pledge to make a small change this Christmas that could make a big difference.
Speaking of the animation, James Torry, founder of Doodledo, said: “This is our second year of supporting the Caritas Salford Advent appeal so it’s fantastic to be able to bring more characters to life, get even more creative, and hopefully make a big difference.”
- For more information on Caritas Salford and the Advent appeal, visit www.caritassalford.org.uk/beethere