Award winning volunteers who helped out at this year’s Olympics will be welcomed to the Town Hall this week to celebrate their achievement.
The Maritime Volunteer Service (MVS) have been awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012 for volunteer work carried out during the year including marshalling duties at the Olympics and work undertaken during the Queen’s jubilee.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.
Liverpool’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Sharon Sullivan said: “I am delighted to be welcoming such a deserving group of people to the Town Hall.
“To be given such a prestigious award, in the year the Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, is a credit to the hard work and dedication of each and every volunteer.
“This award is great recognition, not only of their work this year, but of the work that members are doing quietly all the time. As an organisation the MVS have a real part to play in the community with a training programme second to none.
“I congratulate them on their amazing achievement and wish them every success for the years ahead.”
Local Volunteer Ehab Alsayagh, said: “After such a great year, the MVS is delighted to finish 2012 by joining the Lord Mayor of Liverpool.
“To gain local recognition along with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award makes the entire team proud to be playing a part in the MVS”
Locally the MVS work has supported water based events through Project Victor which teaches young people safety and discipline on the water.
Nationally this year has been outstanding for the MVS, including four North West volunteers, who helped out at the 2012 Olympics in Weymouth and on the River Thames at Dorney Lake, all three events were support by members from the North of England.
Each unit trains their members in valuable maritime skills that can be called upon by the community in times of emergency. MVS members are trained in handling boats, seamanship, basic marine engineering and operational support skills including radio and telephone communications, all of which can be put to good use in times of natural disaster or emergency.
