CLIP receives the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

CLIP, a charity driven by a team of highly motivated volunteers, has been honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

CLIP was established in 2013, initially, as the name suggests, to promote creative activities for prisoners which are meaningful and productive. Through a close working relationship with the management and staff at Guernsey Prison the remit of the charity has expanded significantly as time has gone on such that it now contributes to a wide range of activities in prison providing further educational opportunities for prisoners linked to employment, vocational skills and helping to reduce reoffending.

CLIP has benefitted from charitable grants and generous public donations, allowing amongst other developments, the construction of a new carpentry workshop for prisoners who are able to learn new skills and gain City & Guilds qualifications under the supervision of a committed team of prison officers. This also allows for production of items for sale through the on-site CLIP Retail Outlet, as well as undertaking of numerous community projects – including: the spectacular reading tree at the Guille-Alles library; benches at La Valette; mud kitchens and reading chairs for several schools and pre-schools; and planters and other decorative items for parish douzaines.

CLIP is one of 241 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups across the UK to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of nominations remains high year on year, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them.

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. Recipients are announced each year on 2nd June, the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation. Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse. They include volunteer groups from across the UK, including an inclusive tennis club in Lincolnshire; a children’s bereavement charity in London; a support group for those living with dementia and their carers in North Yorkshire; a volunteer minibus service in Cumbria; a group supporting young people in Belfast; a community radio station in Inverness and a mountain rescue team in Powys.

Representatives of CLIP will receive the award crystal and certificate from His Excellency The Lieutenant-Governor, on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, at a reception on Saturday June 12th. Furthermore two volunteers from CLIP will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2022 (depending on restrictions at the time), along with other recipients of this year’s Award.

Iain Stokes, Chairman of CLIP, says:

“We are delighted that the work of CLIP has been recognised in this way and I would like to pay tribute to the hard work and commitment of all our volunteers, particularly my fellow board members, Andrew Ozanne OBE and Jurat Jonathan Hooley, without whose drive and passion the development of CLIP would not have been possible.”