Shrewsbury Street Pastors have been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

The Shrewsbury Street Pastors have been caring, listening and helping vulnerable people in Shrewsbury during the night-time hours at the weekend since November 2011
Street Pastors engage with people on the streets to care for them, listen to them and help them. They work together with other partners in the night-time economy to make communities safer.

Pete Lawton (Chair of Trustees) and Marion Haworth (one of the Team Leaders) attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday 15th May 2018 where they met the Queen and members of the Royal Family, and other winners of this year’s award.

The Shrewsbury Street Pastors are one of the charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of awards given to groups this year is slightly higher than last year, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to tackle community challenges.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their communities. The awards were created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and winners are announced each year on 2 June – the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.

The Shrewsbury Street Pastors received the award from the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire in September 2018.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Committee Chair, former broadcast journalist Sir Martyn Lewis said: “I warmly congratulate all of the inspirational voluntary groups who have been rewarded for their community work with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The judging panel for this year’s awards were struck by the quality and breadth of all the successful groups. The thousands of volunteers who give up spare time to help others in their community and to help solve problems demonstrate the very best of democracy in action.”

Sir Algernon Heber-Percy, Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, said: “He was delighted that Shrewsbury Street Pastors have been awarded this prestigious award.”

Pete Lawton, Chair of Trustees of Shrewsbury Street Pastors, said: “I am ‘stoked’ about this award and how it reflects on all the hard-work of the Street Pastors, Trustees and Senior Management Team here. It also shows how well Street Pastors support vulnerable people in Shrewsbury during the night-time economy. They have become an integral part in working with and supporting their external partners.”