Greater Manchester Magistrates Association receives The King’s Award for Voluntary Service

Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Association, a group of volunteers working across Greater Manchester, has been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2024.

This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and is equivalent to an MBE.

Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Association is a group of magistrates who give up their time to deliver workshops free of charge to schools, colleges and community groups.  Their goal is to increase awareness of the role of the Magistracy and engage with young people across Greater Manchester so they can make better choices within the law. 

They run sessions on topical issues such as Knife Crime and Cyberbullying through interactive quizzes, virtual reality workshops and mock trial competitions. 

They work alone and in partnership with Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Early Break, Virtual Decisions and Crimestoppers.  

In addition, they organise contextual visits to prisons and the Probation Service and raise funds locally to support their work in the community.  Last year Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Association volunteers conducted 197 visits and reached 8,560 young people across all ten GM boroughs.

Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Association is one of 281 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. Their work, along with others from across the UK, reminds us of all the ways fantastic volunteers are contributing to their local communities and working to make life better for those around them.

The King’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to support their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate Her Majesty The late Queen’s Golden Jubilee and, was continued following the accession of His Majesty The King. 2024 marks the second year of The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Recipients are announced annually on 14th November, The King’s Birthday. Award winners this year are wonderfully diverse and include volunteer groups from across the UK, such as a mental health and wellbeing support network for veterans and their families in Yorkshire.

A group preserving a historic 12th century castle in south Wales; volunteers providing English lessons for refugees in Stirling and an organisation providing a opportunities to engage in the arts for people with learning disabilities in County Fermanagh.

Representatives of Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Association will receive the award crystal and certificate from Diane Hawkins JP LLB, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester later this summer. In addition, two volunteers from Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Association will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May and June 2025, along with other recipients of this year’s Award.

Rachel Medcalf JP, the Greater Manchester Magistrates in the Community Coordinator said: “We are so delighted that our group’s work has been recognised.  Working in the classroom with young people from all the different demographics that make up Greater Manchester is hard work but hugely rewarding.  If we can get just one young person to think differently about carrying a knife or posting harmful content, we feel we have made a small but important difference. “