Church Groups Given Queen's Award Honour

Wednesday June 3

The volunteers behind a church-based lunch club in Edinburgh has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

Set up 23 years ago by the Rev David Donaldson and his wife Jean, the Lunch Club has provided a weekly stop for senior members of the local community to meet together and share in a chat and meal.

Margaret Sinclair, a founding member of the Lunch Club, said that the award was such a surprise but reflected the hard work and dedication of all the volunteers who had served the local community in this way for many years.

The Rev Dr James Jack, Minister of Duddingston Kirk, said he was delighted that this work had been recognised and that so many had benefitted from the Lunch Club.

Two of the volunteers from the Lunch Club, Mary Locke and Edith Keenan, are to attend a garden party at Holyrood on July 1, where they will meet the Queen and other recipients of the 2015 Queen’s Awards. The award itself will be presented by the Lord Lieutenant of the City of Edinburgh, the Lord Provost, later this summer.

The Havilah Project at Arbroath St Andrews Church has also been recognised in the 2015 awards. Havilah is a drop-in service offering food, company and non-judgemental listening to the whole community. Many of its users are people with addictions, and Havilah has helped support several people through rehabilitation.

Recently, a former drug addict returned to the church to tell of how the service helped turn his life around.

Havilah has received funding from the Church of Scotland's Go For It! fund. The minister of Arbroath St Andrews, the Rev Dr Martin Fair, said: "What an honour for our volunteer team - and what an honour for a Go For It funded project!"

Comments

There are currently no comments on this post

Add a reply

All fields are required. Email address will not be published.