Pontefract Civic Society receives The King’s Award for Voluntary Service
Pontefract Civic Society has been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2024 – the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and equivalent to an MBE.
The registered charity was formed in 1969 to lobby for protection of buildings and spaces and has since gone on to promote the town as a place to live, work, study and visit, whilst creating and supporting public events, festivals, heritage talks and tours, businesses and schools.
Pontefract Civic Society is one of 281 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year.
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to support their communities.
It was created in 2002 to celebrate Her Majesty The late Queen’s Golden Jubilee and, was continued following the accession of His Majesty The King. 2024 marks the second year of The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.
Recipients are announced annually on November 14, The King’s Birthday.
Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse and include volunteer groups from across the UK, such as a mental health and wellbeing support network for veterans and their families in Yorkshire; a group preserving a historic 12th century castle in south Wales; volunteers providing English lessons for refugees in Stirling and an organisation providing a opportunities to engage in the arts for people with learning disabilities in County Fermanagh.
Representatives of Pontefract Civic Society will receive the award crystal and certificate from Edmund Anderson, Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire later.
In addition, two volunteers from Pontefract Civic Society will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May and June 2025, along with other recipients of this year’s Award.
Chairman Paul Cartwright, said: “As the current custodian of the charity, I am both proud and delighted that our group’s work has been recognised, in taking a keen interest in how the town develops whilst raising its profile a place for citizens and visitors to enjoy alongside business and council investment.
"I must pay tribute to hard work and commitment of our volunteers, especially those who go the extra mile, whilst understanding that even in an historic town, we have to move with the times.”