Activities

Eagles Wing get Queen’s Award!

stjohnstmarkchurchburyTuesday, June 2, 2020

Below is a very special press release from The Eagles Wing. The Queen’s Award is richly deserved and we’re absolutely delighted that their work has been recognised.

Honoured

The Eagles Wing are a mutual support group for asylum seekers, refugees and local people, based in Bury, Greater Manchester. We have been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

The Eagles Wing has no office or paid staff. But it has been meeting on a regular basis since 2005, to welcome and support newcomers to Bury. Volunteers plan and organise social activities each week. These include an English class, in partnership with Bury College, a dancing group for women and small children, and a parents support group to help members to share their worries and to celebrate their successes together.

Twice a week there is a Drop-In session where people can come with problems, receive help and support from each other and make new friends. The Drop-In is also a time when we can share clothing, toys, books and household items. There is also help in times of financial crisis through a partnership with the Red Cross.

The Queen’s Award

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by voluntary groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Recipients are announced each year on 2nd June, the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.

Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse. There are volunteer groups from across the UK, including a community shop in Cornwall and an environmental group in Swansea. There is a group working with refugees and vulnerable people in Stirling and a thriving community Arts centre in County Down.

Representatives of The Eagles Wing will receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire later this summer. Furthermore, two volunteers from The Eagles Wing will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2021, along with other recipients of this year’s Award.

Delighted

Sue Arnall, the Honorary Treasurer of The Eagles Wing, says:

“We are delighted that our group’s work has been recognised, and we want to pay tribute to the hard work and commitment of our volunteers. Many of these are refugees and asylum seekers themselves, but work hard to support each other and help the most needy in our community”

With good wishes, Sue Arnall

For more information about the award, and for other winners, please go to: https://twitter.com/QueensAwardVS or The Gazette. To contact Eagles Wing, please e-mail: sue.k.arnall@gmail.com

Please follow this link to find out more about Refugee Week, an annual festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees. Its first ever virtual edition is an invitation to connect across borders and distance, and, together, imagine a different world. It runs from 15th to 21st June 2020.