The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is awarded to The Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre.
We are absolutely ecstatic to announce that we have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in the Queen’s Birthday Honours!
Since 2007 hundreds of passionate and dedicated volunteers from the surrounding communities have come together to contribute almost 200,000 hours of volunteer time to restore the Mountsorrel railway line and to then go on to create the Heritage Centre with museums, nature trails, Quarry Heritage building, and many other areas of interest for local history and wildlife.
The Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre opened to the public only as recently as 2016. Open 7 days a week visitor numbers have grown to almost 140,000 per year. The Centre has attracted royal interest previously with HRH The Prince of Wales visiting in January 2017 and HRH The Duke of Gloucester in July last year.
Managing Director Steve Cramp says
It is a great honour for us as a volunteer group to be given such a prestigious award! It is fantastic to be recognized for all the hard work our many volunteers have put in over the last 13 years to make our site somewhere for the community to learn about their local history and wildlife. It really goes to show just what communities can achieve when they work together.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award that can be bestowed onto a voluntary organization – the equivalent of an MBE – and is given in the Queen’s name.
Leicestershire’s Lord Lieutenant Michael Kapur gave his congratulations to all the volunteers at the Heritage Centre.
I was delighted to learn that the Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre has been awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest possible national accolade that can be bestowed on a voluntary organisation, coming as it does at the gift of Her Majesty. It is given only to the most outstanding examples of voluntary service.
This is a Community Centre run entirely by volunteers who have, together, created a truly remarkable visitor experience, which inspires people of all ages to discover more about their local, industrial and social heritage.
What they have achieved is astonishing and everyone involved rightly deserves to share in the recognition that this Queen’s Award brings. I send everyone at the Centre my heartfelt congratulations.
Steve Cramp continued
It has to be something very special indeed to capture the Queen’s attention and the phenomenal amount we have achieved at the Heritage Centre has certainly done that. Once the Coronavirus restrictions are lifted and we are allowed to reopen to the public again, we welcome everyone to come and see for themselves what is so special that the Queen has awarded us such a prestigious award!
The Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre can be found on Swithland Lane, Rothley, not far off the A6 between Loughborough and Leicester. Opening times are 10:00 till 4:45pm, 7 days a week and entry is free.
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