Celebrating our Volunteers

Over a hundred volunteers gathered in the beautiful grounds of Ludgrove School to celebrate our fantastic achievement of winning the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service this year.

Although the weather forecast suggested heavy downpours and thunderstorms, not a drop of rain fell and we were blessed with warm and at times, sunny weather!

It was a great pleasure to thank in person so many volunteers. Each week they donate their time, care, kindness, empathy and humour in generous proportions, lifting the spirits of so many in difficult times.

We are aware it’s not always easy volunteering for us. We certainly do get words of thanks and praise from so many of our Link Friends but we also want to shine a light on those incredible volunteers who carry on even when our Link Friends are feeling very down or sad or grieving or struggling with long term health conditions and just aren’t able to give the warm encouragement and the big thank you.

Take it from us, we notice and we are so impressed.

And on top of everything, covid came along and tested us all immensely, but our volunteers were there for those who needed us the most. This Queen’s Award comes with special recognition for the part we played in supporting our community.

We value each and every one of our 400 brilliant volunteers and it was simply wonderful to be together, have some fun, share stories and connect and have a chance to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts on behalf of the many hundreds of older people we have supported and helped over the years with the transforming act of friendship.

Thank you, well done and congratulations. You all deserve it!

A special thank you to those who supported us in putting the event together with food, drinks or raffle tickets, including Waitrose & Partners, Morrisons, Tesco, Chalk Wokingham, The Dog & Duck, Joy Cafe, Blue Orchid Bakery, DoubleTree by Hilton St Anne's Manor, The White Horse at Wokingham and Wheelwright Arms.

Marjie Walker | CEO