The Lightbox Volunteers receive The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

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 The Lightbox gallery and museum in Woking has announced that its loyal team of volunteers has received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for their dedication and commitment to The Lightbox. This is the highest award (the equivalent of an MBE) given to volunteer groups across the UK for outstanding work in their local communities.
 
This coveted award, inaugurated in 2002 to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee year, is made annually to groups who have completed ‘outstanding voluntary work in the community’.
 
150 volunteers help run The Lightbox, a nationally acclaimed gallery and museum with learning facilities in Woking. Volunteers at The Lightbox provide nearly 7,000 hours annually, in an impressive range of roles from greeting visitors, stewarding the galleries, curating and cataloguing the collection to assisting with workshops and special events. Without them, The Lightbox could not provide free public entry six days per week and welcome 70,000 visitors annually.  Before The Lightbox opened to the public in 2007 and became the impressive public facility as we know it today, this volunteer group had campaigned for more than 10 years for a cultural centre in Woking, their work leading directly to the building of The Lightbox.
 
Acting Chairman of The Lightbox Trustees, Jamie Sharply comments ‘The volunteers at The Lightbox are a central part of everything we do, supporting the organization in so many ways and are our ambassadors in the Community. We really could not function without them.’
 
In May three volunteers represented The Lightbox Volunteers at HM The Queen’s Garden Party. Galaxy Cars of Woking provided the transport to and from Buckingham Palace, where everyone had, deservedly, a thoroughly enjoyable time.
 
The award will be presented to The Lightbox’s Volunteers on behalf of the Queen by the Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Dame Sarah Goad, DCVO, JP or a Deputy Lieutenant some time in the coming months.