Presentation of The Kings Award for Voluntary Service to Winster Village Shop 

On Thursday 15th of February, 46 shop volunteers and their guests attended a ceremony held in the Old Bowling Green, as the Kings Award for Voluntary Service was presented to the shop. The presentation of the award was made by His Majesty's Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire Colonel John Wilson OBE to Alistair Wright, Chairman of WVSA. We were delighted that two Deputy Lieutenants of Derbyshire, Ms Kate Alcock and Mr Nick Hodgson, both of whom had been closely involved in supporting our application for the award, were able to attend.  We were pleased to welcome our local MP Sarah Dines, as a guest. After a short welcoming speech by Alistair, Col Wilson replied and then made the presentation of the certificate, and the crystal award. The certificate was personally signed by the King.

Rod Shiers and David Mitchell as the creators of WVSA, gave a short, interesting, history of how the shop came into being, before being presented with commemorative boxed KAVS badges. Rachel Miller was similarly recognised for her hard work and commitment to the shop. The volunteers were informally presented with their badges by Col Wilson and the Deputy Lieutenants.

The celebrations were capped by toasts to the King and the Volunteers, followed by a light buffet, including a superb celebration cake made by the talented Janice and Carl Ashin.

Our thanks go to David Bentley and his team for hosting the event in the Old Bowling Green.

This was a very special occasion celebrating the success of our volunteers and we are now starting to look at celebrating the shop's 25th Anniversary next year.