Chesterfield voluntary sector Archives - Destination Chesterfield

Prestigious King’s Awards for Chesterfield Volunteer Centre and Wilmott Dixon

16th November 2023

Two organisations which support Chesterfield’s growth and regeneration have been awarded highly prestigious King’s Awards.

Wilmott Dixon, which is a member of the town’s Property and Construction Group King’s Award for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity. Willmott Dixon was one of only nine companies recognised this year in this category.

It’s the fourth such accolade for the company, and the first from HM King Charles III. It was awarded in recognition of the wide-ranging activities of Willmott Dixon’s people to make society a better place, especially for those who face significant barriers to achieving their full potential in life.

In the last year, four out of five of Wilmott Dixon’s 2000+ workforce have delivered a social value-based activity in their community to improve the life chances of others. This includes mentoring, supporting people with interview training, careers advice and enhancing a local community asset for people to use. In all, last year saw Willmott Dixon’s team create and deliver over 608 community programmes and engage with over 70,000 people in activities to boost their life chances. This led to 88% saying it had a beneficial impact on them.

In total, over 48,000 hours were volunteered by Willmott Dixon people, and this led to over 200 people facing major barriers to work gaining employment through the company’s intervention. Willmott Dixon also helped further drive social mobility among the most vulnerable and less fortunate by spending over £2.5m with social businesses last year.

Rick Willmott explained: “This sense of purpose to help the communities where we work is in the very DNA of our company. From offering opportunities and employability skills for those facing major barriers to employment, to improving buildings so they encourage better community cohesion – our social value projects are an important reason people want to work for us and their impact is something our customers and communities value hugely.

“I want to express my deep appreciation to everyone who’s work has made a difference. This award belongs to us all, and it reflects the passion and dedication we share for helping others.”

Meanwhile, The Volunteer Centre Chesterfield & North East Derbyshire has been awarded The Kings Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest Award given to voluntary groups across the UK, and it is awarded for life. The award is for voluntary groups rather than individuals and is seen as the MBE for voluntary groups.

In a correspondence from the KAVS Team The Volunteer Centre were told;

“His Majesty The King has approved the KAVS National Assessment Committee’s recommendation that the volunteers of The Volunteer Centre – Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire should receive The King’s Award for Voluntary Service 2023. This represents a tremendous achievement and we hope that the group’s volunteers will feel immensely proud of it.”

The announcement was made on November 14^th and cited officially in the ‘London Gazette’ of the same date. This will be followed by a local presentation of a cut glass award and an official certificate signed by The King. In the summer of next year, representatives of The Volunteer Centre will be invited to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

CEO Dave Radford, on hearing the news said: “Obviously we are all tremendously proud of what we have achieved. Our volunteers worked so hard and they did so much during the pandemic providing a much-needed shopping service to individuals. The local communities would have struggled without their fantastic help.

“However, it is so much more than that, this isn’t something that is handed out on a plate, it is an Award that shines a light on the fantastic work carried out by volunteers and groups that make a big difference in their communities. I think it will take sometime to wipe the smile off my face!”

Wilmott Dixon supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Dave Radford, Chesterfield Volunteer Centre with guests at the Chesterfield Volunteer Sector Awards

Charities, community groups, and students strengthen links at University of Derby event

3rd January 2023

A vibrant Voluntary Sector Marketplace has introduced university students and lecturers to groups across the county, to further champion working together in classrooms and communities.

More than 300 students and lecturers from the University of Derby met with charities and community organisations from across the county at a packed event on November 24th 2022, as part of the partnership between the University and local charity Community Chesterfield.

Over 40 representatives from the charity and voluntary sector in Derbyshire helped to make this event a huge success, presenting a series of lectures to nursing students at the university talking about the impact of groups in our community and on health and social care, and encouraging staff and students to become champions for the invaluable work being done.

Introducing hundreds of students and lecturers to connect with groups such as Ashgate hospice, the Volunteer Centre, Derbyshire Carers Association, Chesterfield Football Club Community Trust, and many more, the event encouraged the participants to make plans together to strengthen their links and plan future collaborations in the classroom, and in communities across the region.

The university this week was awarded the Bronze Engage Watermark for its community engagement and partnerships, working with education is critical to ensuring the continued success and reach of charities and community groups across Derbyshire.

Daniel Jones, Marketing and Communications officer at Community Chesterfield said: “Our partnership with the University of Derby is integral to our success in delivering such outstanding support to both students and community groups across the county, helping to shape the future of charities and volunteer groups and increase the understanding of how vital support within our communities is”.

Community Chesterfield is a collaboration between Derbyshire Voluntary Action and the University of Derby, connecting students, university lecturers, and community groups across the county to work with and support each other in a true partnership and has been recognised this year with awards at the Voluntary Sector Awards and the Nursing Times Awards for their successes.

One University of Derby student commented: “It has opened my eyes to the possibilities both for employment and to signpost people to. It has highlighted that there may be opportunities and options out there for me once I graduate… I think what the volunteer sector do is absolutely amazing and I would imagine that it could be very rewarding.”

Community Chesterfield, Derbyshire Voluntary Action and University of Derby support the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.