03 November 2005

London, UK: The Queen welcomed today 300 volunteers from across the United Kingdom to the Buckingham Palace as part of the crowning event to mark UK's Year of the Volunteer campaign.

The monarch and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, hosted the London reception to celebrate the contribution of the volunteers who regularly give up their time to help others.

The Queen was also due to visit the Camden Chinese Community Centre to see volunteers in action.

The centre, which supports the Chinese community in North London, is staffed by a host of young volunteers from the Community Service Volunteers' (CSV) Millennium Volunteers programme.

Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, executive director of CSV, said: "This crowns the Year of the Volunteer and gives volunteers the recognition that they have always deserved."

Elizabeth Salter, Year of the Volunteer campaign manager, said: "It is fantastic that The Queen is recognising the value of volunteers.

"The reception is a great way to raise the profile of the Year of the Volunteer, at the same time helping volunteering to be taken more seriously and encouraging more people to get involved."

Amongst the volunteers being honoured by the Queen are: St John's Ambulance volunteer Margaret Proctor who helped in the response to the recent bombings; Manchester teenager Paul Booth who has given 1,000 hours to crime reduction charity Nacro; and Judith Abbot who has been comforting parents at Sheffield Children's Hospital for more than five years.

Also attending the reception were: Imelda Quinn, from Derby, who visits a young girl in residential care as part of CSV's Allies project; London asylum seeker Benjoly Mongay Bapindikwa who volunteers for the Refugee Council; and Parmjit Kaur, from the West Midlands, who is involved in the Employee Volunteering project run by British Gas, CSV and Age Concern.

The Year of the Volunteer 2005 is led by CSV and the Volunteering England Consortium, and supported by the Home Office.