Charity volunteers' 'pride' over King's Award

Charity volunteers who have cooked hot meals for homeless people in Sheffield every Sunday for the last 25 years have said it was "fantastic" to have received a major award recognising their efforts.

The Sunday Centre, based at Victoria Hall on Chapel Walk, was the only charity in the city to be given the King's Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award for the voluntary sector, in 2024.

The King's Award certificate was handed over by Dame Hilary Chapman, Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, at a ceremony held after the last meal was served on Sunday 2 February.

Charity chair Kelly Lingard said members of the Sunday Centre were "so proud to have been honoured - it's still not sunk in".

The Sunday Centre was launched in the early 1990s in an effort to "feed the city's homeless, rootless, marginalised, and anyone in need - including refugees, asylum seekers and new arrivals to the city", Ms Lingard said.

"Sundays see a particular need for a safe, warm refuge because many of the other relief organisations working in Sheffield close on Sundays."

Ms Lingard, who works as a solicitor during the week, said many of the other volunteers also fitted in the Sunday Centre around their day job or studies.

"We are so proud of all of our volunteers," she said.

"This award is for each and every one of them, for those who currently volunteer and for those who have volunteered in the past."

Ms Lingard said the project was "pretty unusual" because many young people volunteered to take part alongside the more usual older age group.

Meanwhile, she admitted: "We're not a very well known charity among the other homeless projects in Sheffield."

The charity used financial donations from the public, businesses and grants to bulk-buy food, which was supplemented with stock from the S6 Foodbank, Ms Lingard explained.

The King's Award is considered to be the equivalent to an MBE for the voluntary sector.

First launched as the Queen's Award in 2002, it recognises "outstanding work by local volunteer groups to support their communities".

The Sunday Centre was among four volunteer organisations across South Yorkshire awarded the King's Award for 2024, with the others being Rotherham Families First, Edlington Community Organisation and Active Fusion in Doncaster.

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