Queen honours city anti-racism charity

Peterborough Today reports on the local Race Equality Council being given a Royal award for the work they do. The award is considered a highly prestigious honour in that it recognises volunteer groups who have made an exceptional contribution to their local communities, setting the benchmark for volunteering excellence nationationally:

The annual Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service award was created by Her Majesty to mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002 and PREC were chosen for their work to promote good community relations and provide free training, development, advice and support for communities in Peterborough.

They are one of eight outstanding volunteering groups from across the East of England to be honoured from 413 nominees.

And director of PREC, Mahebub Ladha, said the council and its volunteers were all delighted to be recognised.

He said: “To get an award like this is incredible and a testament to all the unsung heroes in our organisation who give up their time,

“We have 30 to 40 people involved in PREC and this is for people like Christine Johnson who arrive at 7.45am and don’t leave until 5pm without asking for any payment or thanks

“We never expected to win it and we couldn’t believe it when they told us we had won, it is a real tribute to partnership working in Peterborough, and real boost."

Read the full report over at the Peterborough Today website.

Main image: Mahebub Ladh, director of Peterborough Racial Equality Council, with (second left), city council community manager Pep Cipriano, Citizens advice centre project manager Rodger Lymburn, Inspector Matt Newman, Racial Equality council support officer Jenny Elmore. Picture: Paul Franks/Peterborough