The Greater Manchester volunteers changing people's lives across our region

The Winners of the 2023 King’s Award have been announced, with plenty of representation from Greater Manchester.

The awards are given out each year to celebrate volunteers and their work, carried out across the nation. It is the highest award that can be given to a group, and is the equivalent of an MBE.

First held in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, 262 groups are recipients this time around, with 23 coming from our region. They range from dementia care to music education.

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One of this year’s winners is Wigan Youth Group. The foundation, backed by businessmen such as Dave Whelan, constructed a state-of-the-art youth centre in Wigan Town Centre. The building gives young people in the borough a safe space to socialise and learn new skills.

Anthony Ashworth-Steen, CEO of the Youth Zonesaid: “This is a great honour for Wigan Youth Zone, and we are absolutely ecstatic to have received this prestigious recognition. One of our charity’s best or, on reflection, worst-kept secrets is that we are volunteer-led and are reliant on significant voluntary support to run our critical services for young people – about half of our team members are volunteers at any one time.

“This award is for them, our supporters, our young people, and our entire community – together, we are making proactive investment in the future of our next generation, and, by doing so, we are making a positive difference to thousands of lives.”

Winners of the award will receive the award from the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester. Awardees also