The Children with Cancer Fund, the Polegate based charity which has been helping families who have a child with cancer for 17 years, has received one of the highest accolades to volunteers – the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
The award recognised the outstanding work done by local volunteer groups in their communnities.
It’s the equivalent of an MBE, and was created by the Queen in 2002 to celebrate her Golden Jubilee.
The Children With Cancer Fund was founded in 1998 and has steadily grown.
Over the years, it has helped hundreds of families in East Sussex, Brighton and Hove, as well as letting cancer families from all over the country use its caravans for holiday breaks.
The charity also supported the building of family rooms within the Eastbourne and Hastings hospitals, allowing families to stay together during isolation treatment.
It has also helped with the purchase of a new mini bus for children with cancer and their siblings to go out on respite trips.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Committee chair, former broadcast journalist Martyn Lewis CBE said, “I warmly congratulate all of the inspirational voluntary groups rewarded for 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.
Although the charity is allowed to use and promote the fact it has been given the award, the official presentation is in July at Herstmonceux Castle, when the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex will represent the Queen and present a certificate signed by the Queen and an exclusive commemorative crystal.