members of Monmouth based Hands Around the World (HATW) finally received their Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service which was first announced in June 2020 when the country was in lockdown.

This meant representatives from HATW were unable to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace or celebrate in person and celebrations were also shelved in 2021.

However, in May this year, two of the volunteers Mike and Heidi, pictured right, went to Buckingham palace to attend this garden party.

And last Friday the Lord Lieutenant of Gwent Brigadier Robert Aitken came to formally present the Monmouth group of volunteers with the actual award.

He was welcomed by Bridget Higginson, executive officer and the award was accepted on behalf of all the volunteers by David Steiner, founder and now Trustee of HATW.

David spoke to the group o about the work of HATW and his reasons for setting it up.

He said: “As a family, we spent a year at St Francis Hospital, Katete, Zambia in the early 90s. I was working as a medical officer, both in the hospital and one day a week in the community, under the watchful eye of James Cairns, the medical superintendent and Faith, his wife. 

‘‘Our five children were aged six to 16.

‘‘I could never cope with children dying, and it was this experience which eventually led to the founding of ‘Hands Around the World’ (HATW).  

‘‘One mother brought me to tears one evening as she thanked me for helping her infant who had then just died, wrapped his little body in her chitenge cloth, tied him to the carrier of her bicycle and walked off sobbing. 

‘‘Could, even short-term UK volunteers help to break the cycle? Could they take their experience home and make further things happen? Yes, they could and did, often in unexpected ways. 

‘‘There have so far been over 600 HATW overseas volunteers - building and painting classrooms and hospital wards, running holiday clubs, installing and repairing machinery, teaching, training, encouraging and much more.

‘‘And, surprisingly for some, the benefit is very much two-way. So many have made a point of telling how much their experience of volunteering has changed their life for ever too. 

‘‘In addition to the people that volunteer overseas, HATW has a huge amount of people who work with us day to day, running coffee mornings, helping us with admin in the office, running events, supporting us with IT and system changes, project work and those who work closely with our project partners....to name just a few things our volunteers get involved in.

‘‘HATW is incredibly fortunate to work with so many likeminded, driven and enthusiastic people who give so freely of their time.

‘‘It is thanks to our volunteers that HATW has the reach that it does and is able to make such a positive difference to the lives of children at our partner projects.

‘‘Receiving this award is an incredible accolade that is so well deserved by all our volunteers and trustees.’’

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) was created in 2002 to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

The QAVS are the highest awards given to local voluntary groups in the UK and are awarded for life.

Each year, outstanding examples of this work are celebrated through the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), acknowledging the millions of volunteers around the UK who give their time.