The Matthew of Bristol Trust Receives the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service

We are excited to announce that The Matthew of Bristol Trust has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

The Matthew of Bristol Trust is one of 281 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award in 2019. The number of nominations and awards have increased year on year since the awards were introduced in 2001, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Winners are announced each year on the 2nd June – the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse.  They include volunteers helping people overcome mental health problems through sport, volunteers using caravans as mobile café/information centres in geographically remote locations, and another group mentoring children who have a parent in prison.

The Matthew of Bristol Trust’s Volunteer Coordinator, Ann May – a volunteer herself, says how excited and thrilled she was to hear that the group's work on The Matthew has been recognised, saying: “The professionalism, enthusiasm and knowledge the volunteers have of both the ship and life on board in 1497 is excellent. They are a very committed group and their loyalty to The Matthew knows no bounds. Their work extends from the maintenance of the ship to talking to schools and the public about the history of the ship and the discovery of Newfoundland by John Cabot in 1497.”