On Friday 22nd August, the King’s Award and Coffee event took place hosted by Aspire 2 Inspire CIC at the Aspire Youth zone in Rochdale. The event was to raise awareness of the prestigious King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS), demystify the application process and share the nominee’s personal journey to receiving the award.
The King’s Award, initially established as the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, aims to recognise volunteer lead organisations which undertake fantastic work every day throughout the country and is considered to be the MBE equivalent for groups of volunteers running charities and community organisations. This information event, King’s Award and Coffee, was organised by the Rochdale Deputy Lieutenants, Asrar Ul-Haq OBE DL, Louise Scott DL and Rebecca Tarran DL along with Aspire 2 Inspire who hosted the event and indeed was awarded the distinguished KAVS in 2023.
The event was attended by honourable guests the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Sharman Birtles MBE JP DL, the Rochdale Deputy Lieutenants, the Mayor of Rochdale Councillor Janet Emsley and Mayor Consort Ken Emsley and representatives from various local charities and community groups throughout Rochdale. The Mayor reminded us all of the importance of volunteers in today’s world and how Rochdale has many worthy and deserving voluntary groups who should be recognised for their contributions with the highest possible award – the KAVS – which would also be a great way of thanking the volunteers for their tireless support.
The guests heard from the Vice Lord Lieutenant, who heads up KAVS for Greater Manchester, about the significance of KAVS and how to apply, along with the criteria for achieving an award. Any group which is led by volunteers, has good governance and strategies and a significant impact on the local community can apply. The assessment process was explained by Rebecca Tarran DL who reassured people that it is purely designed to extract the best from each group, the “stardust” to enhance their chances of achieving the award. Successful groups are notified at the time of His Majesty the King’s birthday in November and they will receive a crystal award, a signed certificate from His Majesty the King and the right to use the King’s Award logo in all correspondence and social media, thus giving the group more gravitas and attracting more donors/support. The successful groups also receive an invite for two guests to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace.
Greater Manchester has a good record of local groups being awarded the KAVS and Rochdale to date has 23 groups which have been awarded the QAVS/KAVS going back to 2003. Recent winners include Caring and Sharing Rochdale, Fireground, Jolly Josh, Aspire 2 Inspire Communities CIC, and the Soup Kitchen Rochdale. Nicky, from Caring and Sharing, spoke to Louise Scott DL in a live Q&A about her experience of applying and her joy at being awarded the KAVS in 2024. She spoke about how the award has really benefited her organisation and thoroughly recommended applying for a KAVS if eligible.
The event was a huge success, with the intention being that other boroughs of Greater Manchester replicate this event. Hopefully, Rochdale will continue to see our local charities and community groups of volunteers get the recognition they deserve with more KAVS winners in the future.
Nominations for the 2026 KAVS open on 1st September 2025 and close on 1st December 2025. Anyone seeking further information can contact the Rochdale Deputy Lieutenants or go to the Greater Manchester Lieutenancy website – www.manchesterlieutenancy.org/honoursandawards or the KAVS website directly – www.kavs.dcms.gov.uk.
Categories:
News
