5 June 2019

Manchester & District Beekeepers have been given the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

It's for the work they do in Heaton Park, Manchester where they have a visitor centre manned by volunteers, an apiary and a garden planted for all pollinating insects. 

Representatives from Manchester & District Beekeepers Association (MDBKA) attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May along with the 280 other charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups who are also receiving the award this year. 

David & Lena Crowe - Chairman & President of MDBKA at Buckingham Palace garden party

Lena Crowe, President, said: "It's an enormous honour and great testament to the many hours of dedication our Volunteers give to raise the awareness of how important honeybees and other pollinating insects are to our environment and, ultimately, to the food chain."

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. 

The MDBKA volunteers have already got their badges to wear but will receive their certificates and a plaque from the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester later this summer. 

The association was congratulated by Heaton Park and Hall, who posted on Facebook: "A HUGE congratulations to our wonderful Manchester Beekeeper’s as it’s announced they’ve been awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. True recognition for the amazing work they do."

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