VOLUNTEERS, staff and guests at Chiltern Centre for disabled children celebrated winning the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service at a presentation on Wednesday.

Tim Stevenson, the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and the Queen’s representative, presented a glass trophy to Paul Barrett, chairman of the trustees.

Mr Barrett said it was a “fantastic day” for the centre, which is based off Greys Road and has been open for the past nine years.

He added: “We feel very privileged to volunteer for the cause we volunteer for, so to be thanked for it in this way is quite fantastic. It is an amazing occasion.

“We are so honoured that the Queen is saying a big thank-you to us for our work.”

Volunteers, staff and the parents of children who use the centre gathered to watch and 13 volunteers were introduced to the Lord Lieutenant in recognition of their work. Among the “star volunteers” selected to meet the Lord Lieutenant were Morven Miller and Amelia Ash who used the centre when they were younger and now work with teenagers at the centre.

The Lord Lieutenant said: “This is a reward, a pat on the back as a way of praising volunteer groups that go over and beyond the call of duty. The volunteers I have met today are clearly committed, determined and very hardworking.”

Published 23/09/12