Nevis Radio and its group of volunteers based in Fort William, Scotland have been
honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary
group can receive in the UK.
Nevis Radio has worked hard to support the work of local charities within Lochaber along with bringing in the next generation of radio presenters by working closely with High Schools and the West Highland College.
Simon Abberley, Business Development and Sustainability Manager: “I am extremely proud of our volunteers for the work they assist with in delivering a media platform for our community covering all age groups. Nevis Radio endeavours to serve its local community as best it can and give those within the community a platform to speak and promote local music”
John Weller, Chairman of Nevis Community Radio says: “Being nominated for this Queen’s award means a great deal to so many of us who volunteer at Nevis Radio. It is so pleasing to be recognised as a valued service within our community and even further afield around the globe where we have regular listeners tuning in to hear music and the interaction they like.
This Queens award is not just for our efforts today, we must say thanks to all those that had the vision to set up the radio station all those years ago, and those along the way that have given up their time freely & nurtured and steered the station to where it is today. The award is also valuable for the future development of the station, it shows and recognises what can be achieved by communities working together to make things better for those that live and work within them.
It’s not always been an easy journey to keep the station on air, we have two main challenges, one being the stunning location we have to navigate our signal around to get out to as many listeners as we can. New technology has made this more achievable and certainly more reliable for those folks in the most remote areas. The second big hurdle is finances, It is not a cheap venture to broadcast 24hrs a day to such a large area. We achieve it thanks to our advertisers and those that have supported our funding applications throughout the years”
Nevis Radio is one of 241 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The number of nominations remains high year on year, showing that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Recipients are announced each year on
2nd June, the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation. Award winners this year are
wonderfully diverse.
They include volunteer groups from across the UK, including an inclusive tennis club in Lincolnshire; a children’s bereavement charity in London; a support group those living with dementia and their carers in North Yorkshire; a volunteer minibus service in Cumbria; a group supporting young people in Belfast and a mountain rescue team in Powys.
Representatives of Nevis Radio will receive the award crystal and certificate from Donald Cameron of Lochiel, Lord-Lieutenant of Inverness later this summer.
Simon Abberley says: Although this award stands for the work achieved by our volunteers overall, I think what makes it stand out even more to me, is that work has continued throughout a worldwide pandemic and various hurdles with technology. The work of those at Nevis Radio will not slow down, in anything once regulations allow I’m confident our engagement with our community will increase, this award will give plenty of encouragement that all projects and engagements around Lochaber are taken notice of by many and show more confidence and belief in our volunteers to continue to raise the bar in our ability”