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Friends of Sunnybank Vale's success recognised with Queen's Award

A group of volunteers based in Droylsden are celebrating after they were honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

The Friends of Sunny Bank Vale have received the award because “the work of the group provides a green lung ‘splash of countryside’ in a concentrated urban landscape. The group’s excellence has been recognised by a series of Green Flag awards and “outstanding” Level 5 award by the Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom.”

Since forming in 2011, the group has managed and transformed what was an overgrown, litter-ridden former rubbish tip into a thriving, 39-acre area of urban green space for residents and wildlife alike.

The Friends group has provided safe and secure footpaths, created wildflower areas and installed a wildlife pond. Bird and bat boxes have been erected and the area is enjoyed by the local community for physical and mental well-being. They have also formed close links with Greenside Primary School.

The group has won a host of awards for its work. North West in Bloom has given them the Level 5 ‘Outstanding’ certificate for six years in a row, while Sunny Bank Vale has received the Green Flag for the last five years.

In 2018, Sunny Bank Vale was named the region’s Best Large Neighbourhood at the North West in Bloom ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood Awards’.

Now, the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the icing on the cake. The Friends of Sunny Bank Vale is one of 230 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. 33 of those are from Greater Manchester, the most of any region in the country, while four are based in Tameside.

The award aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee, with recipients announced on June 2 each year, the anniversary of Her Majesty’s coronation.

Representatives of the Friends of Sunny Bank Vale will receive the award from Sir Warren Smith, the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, later this year. Furthermore, two volunteers from the group will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2021, along with other recipients of this year’s award.

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