Nine years ago, David Cameron launched the Big Society, “encouraging people to take an active role in their communities” through volunteering.
However for many of our diverse and minority immigrant communities, local voluntary groups have been providing essential services for them to thrive and progress ever since they first settled here.
This may have been partly due to the need to navigate a complex bureaucracy, as well as some communities’ mistrust of the establishment.
There is also a long tradition of voluntary service in these under-represented communities, which stems from their countries of origin or the faith they practice:
from Indian Sikh voluntary groups providing food to the homeless to Polish Catholic communities providing English lessons.
But despite the number of ethnic minority groups providing voluntary services to our local communities, not enough of them were represented on the list for this years Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS).
Overshadowed by the main honours list, the QAVS is also a part of the honours system and is the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK, recognising exceptional service within their communities.
Despite a record number of nominations and recipients this year, voluntary groups from our diverse communities are still not adequately represented compared to their place in society as a whole.
Some do get recognised. If it wasn’t for award winners like “Descendants”, an Acton-based arts-focused community project, hundreds of young people of African and Caribbean descent would not have developed a knowledge of their ancestry, how to use this to celebrate their abilities and have a positive social impact locally.
