LIFE-SAVING emergency responders will receive a royal honour to mark National Volunteers’ Week.
Swallowfield Community Responders, Wokingham, provide 12 hours of 999 cover a day for the benefit of the local community.
The group has over 1000 volunteer Community First Responders (CFR), all trained in basic life-saving skills to provide early and often vital intervention for patients experiencing life-threatening medical emergencies.
The hard work of the volunteers has been recognised by winning a Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service.
One of the volunteers demonstrates CPR at the Swallowfield Show 2016
The prestigious UK national honour is the equivalent of an MBE for groups of volunteers who work in their local community for the benefit of others.
It sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering, with the work of the Award winners judged to be of the highest standard.
The other winning group from the area was the West Berkshire Therapy Centre, Bracknell, which offers exercise therapy for people with a wide range of disabilities and chronic health conditions whose needs otherwise go unmet.
The two groups will receive their award from the Lord Lieutenant at a special presentation ceremony this autumn.
Since its creation by Her Majesty to mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002, 63 groups from Berkshire have now won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
It is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon groups of this kind and is equivalent in status to the MBE.
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