We are thrilled to announce that the Mills Archive has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. To receive this award, equivalent to an MBE for organisations, is a great honour. This accolade represents the valuable contributions and commitment of all our volunteers that make the Mills Archive a success.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
Our volunteers have always been, and will continue to be, essential to the success of the Mills Archive over the past 17 years. They have come from all walks of life and all ages from 18 to 80 plus. Their skills and knowledge have helped us to expand and develop worldwide access to our resources and collections, and continue to help shape our success.
The Mills Archive is one of 281 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of nominations and awards has increased year on year since the awards were introduced in 2002, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them.
Liz and Mildred attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May on behalf of the Trust, along with other recipients of this year’s Award.
Mills Archive representatives will receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire later in the summer.
The winning organisations have been announced in the London Gazette (our mention is on page 8). Winners are announced each year on 2 June – the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.
We are incredibly grateful all our volunteers for the selfless work that they have contributed towards safeguarding the nation’s milling heritage.
