Restore Hope volunteers win royal approval

Liz Nicholls

Amersham & Villages, Beaconsfield & Villages, Buckinghamshire, Community & Charity, Great Missenden & Hazlemere, Marlow, Bourne End & Cookham, Princes Risborough & Stokenchurch, Round and About

Well done to the 200+ strong team of volunteers from local charity Restore Hope have been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service 2024.

A team of volunteers have earned the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK.

The King’s Award for Voluntary Service is equivalent to an MBE, and awarded for life. This recognition comes at a seminal moment for the charity, which has just received planning permission to transform the former St John’s Methodist Church in Woodside Road, into a Community Hub, in the heart of Amersham.

Since opening in 2002, Restore Hope’s volunteers have helped thousands of families in need throughout our community. Last year Restore Hope’s volunteers gave more than 7,500 hours of their time, working tirelessly to improve the lives of local families facing difficult life circumstances.

Restore Hope’s volunteers support parents and families by delivering courses, coffee mornings, lunch groups, celebration events, and gardening groups. They also support fathers and young men through the outdoor fire kitchen, helping those who attend to improve confidence, gain practical skills in cooking and construction, and be inspired to become positive role models.

The volunteers pack and deliver weekly fresh produce boxes to those experiencing food insecurity, grow and harvest fruit and vegetables for food boxes, help young people by teaching them about local land and unique chalk stream eco-system, and the value of volunteering.

Volunteers also maintain the charity’s 360-acre estate by mending bridges, repairing equipment and landscaping, ensuring the site is safe and welcoming to all. They mentor people on the pathway towards employment, offering practical and emotional support.

The charity also welcomes groups of young volunteers from three nearby special secondary schools, who help care for the environment, grow produce for our food boxes, and help maintain the estate.

Restore Hope CEO, Nate Sence, says: “Restore Hope simply wouldn’t exist without our volunteers, some of whom have been at the charity serving local people for the last 22 years. I am incredibly grateful for their time, energy, and passion. I can’t think of a more deserving group of people to receive this recognition from His Majesty the King, than Restore Hope’s caring and dedicated volunteers.’

Restore Hope in latimer will host an outdoor nativity light Trail, 4.30-6pm or 7-8.30pm on 3rd, 4th & 5th December.

Well done to the 200+ strong team of volunteers from local charity Restore Hope have been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service 2024.

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