Friends of Towneley Park will receive Queen's Award from Lord Shuttleworth

Lord Shuttleworth will be officially presenting the award to the group and five other to volunteer groups on Monday July 22nd. at County Hall in Preston.

The Burnley Express revealed earlier this week that the Friends of Towneley Park had received the award for going far beyond what a normal park friends group does: gardening and litter picking to tackling loneliness, working with schools, developing heritage trails and fundraising to name but a few.

Each of the groups will receive a certificate signed by the Queen and an exclusive commemorative crystal, presented by Lord Shuttleworth.

Lord Shuttleworth said: "The service given by these six groups is the shared effort and achievement of hundreds of volunteers. Their generous gift of time, expertise and willingness to serve the community is a shining light for Lancashire and improves many thousands of lives.

"I congratulate and thank each and every volunteer and look forward to presenting them with their awards on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen"

This prestigious UK national honour recognises outstanding voluntary contributions and sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering. With the work of those awarded being judged to be of the highest standard. It is the MBE for groups of volunteers who work in their local community for the benefit of others.

Sixty one groups from Lancashire have now received this annual award since it was created by Her Majesty to mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002.