A group of dedicated volunteers from our Greater Manchester branch are celebrating today, after being awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and is equivalent to an MBE.
The volunteers – who are all magistrates – give up their time to deliver workshops free of charge to schools, colleges and community groups, as part of the Magistrates’ Association’s Magistrates in the Community initiative. Their goal is to increase awareness of the role of the magistracy and engage with young people across Greater Manchester, so they can make better choices within the law.
Last year the group conducted an impressive 197 visits and reached an incredible 8,560 young people across all ten Greater Manchester boroughs. They run sessions on topical issues such as knife crime and cyberbullying through interactive quizzes, virtual reality workshops and their Manchester-wide mock trials competition for primary schools.
The group work in partnership with other agencies, including Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Early Break, Virtual Decisions and Crimestoppers. They also organise visits to prisons and the Probation Service, and raise funds locally to support their Magistrates in the Community activities.
Rachel Medcalf JP, the Greater Manchester Magistrates in the Community Coordinator said:
“We are so delighted that our group’s work has been recognised. Working in classrooms with young people from all the different communities that make up Greater Manchester is hard work, but hugely rewarding. If we can get just one young person to think differently about carrying a knife or posting harmful content, we feel we have made a small but important difference.”
Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates’ Association said:
“We are incredibly proud of the Greater Manchester branch Magistrates in the Community team, for being honoured with this prestigious award. They have worked very hard over many years – giving countless hours of their time – to educate and inspire thousands of Mancunians, in schools, community centres and other places across Greater Manchester. Receiving the King’s Award for Voluntary Service today is a just reward for all their work. Well done!
“As well as the team in Greater Manchester, many of our members in other parts of England and Wales run local Magistrates in the Community teams too. In the year to July 2024 alone, hundreds of magistrate volunteers made a total of 1,342 presentations to schools, colleges and community groups across England and Wales – taking important messages about the dangers of drugs, knife crime and cyberbullying to communities from Devon to Northumbria and from Gwent to Norfolk. They all do amazing and important work.”
You can find out more about Magistrates in the Community, here.
In all, 281 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups have received the prestigious King’s Award for Voluntary Service this year. The award aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to support their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the late Queen’s Golden Jubilee and was continued following the accession of the King.
Representatives of Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Association will receive the award crystal and certificate from Diane Hawkins JP LLB, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester in 2025. In addition, two volunteers from Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Association will be invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May or June 2025, along with other recipients of this year’s Award.
