This is the highest award a group can receive in the UK.

Twenty-one Greater Manchester voluntary groups have been honoured with a Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) – one of these groups is Corrie Gardeners.

Commonly known as the MBE for volunteer groups, QAVS is the highest award a group can receive in the UK. For the 5th year running Greater Manchester has the most awardees from anywhere in the UK. 

We are delighted and very proud of Corrie Gardeners as one of the five volunteer groups in Bury who have won the prestigious award. Corrie Gardeners is a community group set up by people living in properties managed by Six Town Housing. They run activities to support people living in their neighbourhood of Coronation Gardens area and beyond.

Here are just a few examples of the invaluable work the group has accomplished:

• Running of environmental and fundraising initiatives and social activities within the Coronation Gardens area of Radcliffe. Keeping the estate looking green and tidy with community street garden and organising and taking part in regular tidy-ups in the area.
• Helping to run the Trinity Food Bank in Radcliffe: helping over 100 families in food poverty, and providing guidance to people, sign-posting to services and maintaining low-level mental health services.
• Working jointly with Caritas - Diocese of Salford & Trinity Baptist Church, running a drop-in café, and offering basic I.T. skill workshops.
• Working with the young people in the community: assisting the Council youth services with the weekly running of youth clubs, and running Fit & fed programmes on school holidays.
• Leading on the installation of a Friendly Bench, a social hub where free, community-led activities and events are held to help tackle loneliness and social isolation.

Corrie Gardeners has been going from strength to strength over 5 years. Tina Harrison, who is the Lead Volunteer at Corrie Gardeners and received an MBE for her contributions to the community last year, said:

“We are honoured and humbled to receive this award! We started our group just wanting to improve our environment. In the last couple of years, we have been concentrating more on building resilience in the community by having conversations with the local community, working with Six Town Housing, neighbourhood police, local Councillors and other voluntary organisations - we want to deliver services that are needed as best we can, and want to empower people to help themselves with health and well-being.”

Sharon McCambridge, Chief Executive at Six Town Housing, said:

“We at Six Town are immensely proud of the volunteers and their achievements in the Coronation Gardens area, and beyond. The volunteers’ dedication truly goes above and beyond – supporting the local people, tackling social isolation and keeping the neighbourhood vibrant and green are a real testament to the power of community spirit! A truly well-deserved award!

We would also like to congratulate the other groups in Bury who deservedly received the award this year: The Attic Project, Rammy Men, Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force and Bury2Gether.”

Nominations for 2023

Nominations for the 2023 awards are now open. Do you know a group of volunteers who deserve to be awarded for their valuable work in your community? 

Nominations are accepted until the 15 September 2022. Please read the eligibility criteria and vote on QAVS’s website.

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