Frodsham Community Association (FCA), run by volunteers, has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.
FCA’s volunteer committee of dedicated local people run Frodsham Community Centre, providing excellent facilities for groups, clubs, stage productions, meeting rooms, family events and occasions.
The Centre, opened in 1969, celebrated its 50th birthday with a weekend of activities in October, including the receipt of the Award from the Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire David Briggs MBE.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service recognises outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
Frodsham Mayor Cllr Liam Jones was delighted to be involved n the celebrations. Liam says:
“On Friday evening, Frodsham Community Centre celebrated it’s 50th Anniversary since opening its doors in 1969, after 19 years of fundraising to make it a reality, the evening started with guests being shown the many archives and photos of the centre’s past, including the Frodsham Carnival that finished at the centre. Frodsham Players gave a performance of the centre’s history, telling a story of how the centre came to being and its 50 years history, to then finally finish with speeches and cutting of the cake.
“On Saturday, the Lord Lieutenant arrived at the centre to present the Queen’s Award for voluntary service, Mr David Briggs came a very warm speech on stage with the current and past chairmen of the association, the mayor, and volunteers. He said the award is one in a thousand, as there are only 5 of these given out in Cheshire amongst the 5,000 charities and voluntary groups that exist; touching upon Lord Leverhulme’s speech, the then Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, who opened the community centre regarding the importance of community and coming together and how much since then, has and hasn’t changed, that our values still remain the same.
“The Chairman, Graham Reeves, then took Mr Briggs on a tour of the centre along with the Mayor, of the many stalls that were on exhibition.”
Celebrations of 50 years of Frodsham Youth Club also took place the same weekend.
Photos by Lynda Haney, Frodsham Photographic Society.