East Leake Community Care, a group of volunteers, has been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2025.
This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and is equivalent to an MBE.
First established in 1973, East Leake Community Care has evolved with time and, throughout more than half a century, its services have been adapted to meet the needs of local people and to promote the welfare of the village’s residents. Volunteers have always set the direction of the organisation and identified new opportunities to help.
Today, the group offers a weekly shoppers’ bus service that transports people with mobility difficulties from their homes to the village centre. It also runs a memory café, a weekly group for people with dementia and their carers, offering activities, guest speakers and social interaction.
A volunteer-run transport scheme provides lifts to medical appointments for people of any age who cannot rely on family or friends for support. The organisation also delivers a carers’ support service, through which volunteers sit with a loved one for up to two hours to allow carers much-needed respite.
