A BERKSHIRE charity supporting young people’s mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing is one of this year’s recipients of a prestigious royal honour.
Soulscape is among six charities in the borough to receive this year’s Kings Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS).
The award aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to benefit their communities.
Award winners this year are diverse and include volunteer groups from across the UK.
The six borough winners are: Cianna’s Smile, which provides support for young people, and their families, affected by Sickle Cell; Freely Fruity, whose aim is to relieve poverty by growing fruit trees and edible plants and sharing with food banks; Loose Ends Newbury, a welcoming drop-in centre that provides hot meals for the homeless and vulnerable; Newbury Riding for the Disabled Ltd, whose horses and helpers enrich the lives of disabled children; The Baby Bank which provides essential support to children and their parents experiencing hardship; and Soulscape, who help young people to deal with life’s pressures and promote good mental health.
Soulscape CEO Nick Barnett said: “I am truly honoured that Soulscape has been granted The King’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2024.
“It recognises the massive impact the charity has within Berkshire’s schools supporting young people’s wellbeing.
“The award also celebrates the work of our amazing volunteers, without whom we would not be able to reach out to the number of young people that we do.”
Soulscape is supported by 140 volunteers, who bake cakes for school teachers, mentor children in schools throughout the week, and help to run projects across Wokingham, Reading, Maidenhead and Bracknell to support young people’s mental health.
“It’s an incredible achievement, and we’re so excited to win the award,” said Michelle McLeish, Soulscape operations manager.
“We had the interview a year ago when The Lord Lieutenants of Berkshire spent a morning with us in the office and really grilled us – we had to present lots of statistics and finance information about the charity.
“But it was our volunteers that really interested them, and who they kept coming back to.
“Only two of us will be able to receive the award and attend the garden party, but really this honour is for all our volunteers.
“For me they are our heartbeat, and this award acknowledges that we couldn’t do what we do without the time and energy they put into Soulscape.”
During the last school year Soulscape has worked with thousands of young people in Berkshire schools, creating space for them to explore some of the issues that they say cause them to worry.
“Young people are spending much more time on social media, and watching reality shows which tell them how to behave and who they should be, on top of the academic expectations at school,” she said.
“They need space to talk about what’s going on, and how to deal with all the pressures.”
Nick Barnett added: “I hope that receiving this award will help to shine a light on the massive need within our county to support young people’s wellbeing, and will place young people’s mental health at the top of the agenda.”
Each group will receive their award crystal and certificate from the Lord Lieutenant at a presentation event in February.
And two volunteers from each group will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in 2025.
For information, visit: kavs.dcms.gov.uk, soulscape.org.uk, ciannassmile.co.uk, freelyfruity.org, looseendsnewbury.org, newburyrda.co.uk, and thebabybank.org
