RAP is pipped at the post for volunteering award

Monday 2 June 2008

NEWSFLASH

RAP was sad to hear that it had been pipped at the post for the prestigious Queen’s Award for Volunteering when award-winners were announced today.

The Queen’s Award for Volunteering is awarded on a regional basis to outstanding volunteer teams who make a contribution to their local community. Our independent nominations came from a wide range of people including representatives from local authorities, the Environment Agency, the South West Regional Assembly, local police forces, a local arts organisation, a faith group, a college and a local voluntary organisation.

On the bright side, it was a huge honour for each and every one of our RAP teams to be nominated. We were also told that we were very close to achieving the award, and so will automatically be entered as a nominee for an additional three years. This means we may be successful in the coming years on the strength of our previous nomination – so cross fingers, we may have some good news next year!

But even though we’re feeling a bit blue today, our volunteer teams would like to say a big thank you to everyone that nominated them and also extend their congratulations to those volunteer teams around the UK that were successful.

And just to cheer us all up, here are some of the nice things our nominators said about us:

“RAP has become a very significant project in Bristol’s asylum and refugee landscape. For example, during Bristol’s national Refugee Week events, RAP provided opportunities for agencies, services and the general public to increase their awareness about the facts relating to asylum first-hand through direct contact and by having immediate, convenient access to information.

“RAP’s work in Bristol has helped further enhance the work of Bristol City Council and other organisations in contributing to the notion that people who arrive in Bristol having claimed asylum or as refugees are welcome to the city. They have become integral to raising awareness in an engaging and non-judgemental way – the Bristol RAP project has a strong culture of humility running through it.”
Lorraine Ayensu, Bristol City Council

“I feel that this initiative is very important to improving community cohesion and community relations, thus improving people’s understanding of refugees, and of asylum. The knock-on effect of this will be a more tolerant society and a decrease in the number of hate crimes committed against the refugee and asylum seeker community.”
Bill McAdam, Merseyside Police

“As part of a diversity programme I ran for the Environment Agency, the team were invited to come in and run a RAP session. The response was fantastic, and the session a great success. The session itself was excellent, not only in its scope but the way that it engaged with a potentially divisive issue in an adult and informative way. The publication materials were exceptional, and the volunteers and co-ordinator incredibly knowledgeable on the subject.”
Lawrie Jones, Environment Agency