Coventry charity receives prestigious honour at award ceremony

Coventry charity receives prestigious honour at award ceremony

A Coventry charity celebrated 80 years of success as it was presented with a prestigious award.

The Enterprise Club for Disabled People received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) in a ceremony held at the Coventry council house.

Around 100 people attended the event, with volunteers, councillors, long-standing supporters of the charity coming together to reflect on the eight decades the charity has existed.

The Enterprise Club was founded in 1938, and it aims to improve the quality of life of disabled people in the city and needs £100,000 a year to operate as it receives no public funding.

This includes the running of accessible buses for its 150 members and putting on a wide range of activities such as handicraft, sport and social clubs.

The award presentation was made by Ursula Russell MBE and Les Ratcliffe MBE TD, Deputy Lieutenants for the West Midlands, who represented the Queen at the ceremony.

Following speeches by both Deputy Lieutenants, Cllr John Blundell, the Lord Mayor of Coventry, spoke about the club and why he selected them as one of his two supported charities for his mayoral term.

Enterprise Club general manager Jill Simms received the award on behalf of the charity, alongside club president Clive Benfield, whose family have been associated with the club for two generations.

The presentation of the QAVS was followed by presenting seven Enterprise Club 80th Anniversary Long Service Awards to volunteers who had given exceptional service.

The volunteers received a certificate and a miniature Queen’s Award, to recognise their extensive contributions to the club.

Jill, who has been involved with the club her entire life, said:

“It is a real honour to collect the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service on behalf of the Enterprise Club – and it is particularly special to receive it in our 80th year.

“This is an award for our dedicated volunteers and supporters – past and present – who have enabled the club to keep running and be a success. That’s why we chose to recognise the contributions of some of our volunteers with the 80th-anniversary award.

“It was great to see so many familiar faces at the council house for the ceremony, and we would like to thank everyone who was in attendance and helped make it such a special occasion.”

To find out more about the Enterprise Club or how to support the charity visit www.enterpriseclub.org

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