Published Thursday 24 March 2022 at 17:32
Our community centre volunteers have been recognised for all their incredible work at the Community Volunteer awards in the Lindsay Dunn category.
Cllr Katrina Fielding and Cllr Iftikhar Hussain visited the community centres to present trophies to the volunteers, which now take pride of place at:
- Accrington Rd Community Centre
- Darwen Valley Community Centre
- Greenfields Community Centre
- Ivy St Community Centre
- Little Harwood Community Centre
- Mill Hill Community Centre
Darwen Valley Volunteers
Ivy St Volunteers
Greenfields Volunteers
Accrington Rd and Little Harwood Volunteers
Mill Hill Volunteers
Over seventy volunteers help across the centres. They are incredibly passionate and have committed their lives to the community of Blackburn with Darwen.
The activities in the centres have a powerful impact on vulnerable people’s lives, helping with broad spectrum of challenges, including social isolation, vulnerability, loneliness, mental health, health, financial challenges and learning.
The local communities rely on the centres for accessing support and services close to them, and these volunteers have enabled this to continue by taking over the buildings approximately ten years ago. The significant social impact of this act will be felt for generations.
The volunteers work hard to provide opportunities for people from all walks of life. They have a unified belief that through the local community centre, each person will be able to access the support they need to breakdown the challenges they face and live a successful and fulfilled life, with the warmth and unity of the local community around them helping every step of the way.
During the Covid-19 pandemic the community centres were closed, but the volunteers continued with their commitment by delivering food parcels and cooked meals for the vulnerable people and struggling families in the local community.
We would like to send heartfelt and genuine thank you to these volunteers, and congratulate them on their incredible award.
Cllr Katrina Fielding, Assistant Executive Member Adults & Health, said:
This award is for every single volunteer who supports community centres across Blackburn and Darwen, I have had the pleasure of seeing all their hard work and dedication to supporting the local community. You are all stars, so well done!