Nominate your favourite Dorchester voluntary group for a special award

Do you know of an outstanding voluntary group in Dorchester that deserves an award?

If so, the Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset would like to hear about them.

Mrs Anthony Pitt-Rivers is calling for nominations for outstanding local voluntary groups for next year’s The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for volunteer groups.

Nominations for the 2011 Award should be received by 30 September 2010 so if you know of one, nominate them now. Successful groups will be announced on 2 June 2011.

More information and forms can be downloaded by visiting www.direct.gov.uk/thequeensawardforvoluntaryservice or by calling 020 7781 2397 to request a hard copy.

Mrs Pitt-Rivers said: “Voluntary groups in Dorset continue to play a pivotal role in the community, and many individuals’ lives. Recognising their influence is vital and I want Dorset to express their gratitude to these groups by nominating as many as possible for The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for volunteer groups and highest honour in the voluntary sector.

“Dorset’s volunteers carry out tremendous work across a number of areas such as youth projects, BME and rural community-based initiatives and these are the types of groups for which we would like to encourage more nominations. We have a plethora of groups who could be nominated so please visit the website or call 020 7781 2397 to find out more and nominate.”

In June this year, an outstanding group in Dorset, Caring Canines providing a wide range of therapy with dogs, received the 2010 Award from the hundreds of nominations made from across the UK. These groups were nominated by friends, family or members of the public.

Some roups from across the UK - including eight from Dorset - have now received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service since it was created by Her Majesty to mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002. Groups from different backgrounds providing extremely diverse activities have all felt the Award’s benefits, which include - attracting more volunteers, increased awareness of the group to potential funders and of course helping to raise morale amongst existing volunteers.

This year’s winners from across the UK can be found by visiting the website of by clicking the List of 2010 Winners, while case studies can be found in the Case Studies Section.

For details of all The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service winners or to download a nomination form in pdf, visit www.direct.gov.uk/thequeensawardforvoluntaryservice.