Turning Tides: The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service presented to West Sussex charity for the homeless

The award was made by the Queen in 2020 but due to Covid-19, could not be presented to the charity until now.

Mrs Susan Pyper, Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, presented the award on behalf of the Queen to John Holmstrom, chief executive, in front of invited guests at the Littlehampton Community Hub on Wednesday afternoon.

Mrs Pyper said: “You are a group of very special people. Very few actually get awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, so it is a very prestigious award. You have set the bar very high.”

She introduced Deputy Lieutenants Peter Webb and Simon Knight, who had acted as assessors.

Mrs Pyper said: “They went into everything, paperwork, safeguarding, finances, and they got know the organisation very well. It can be quite a formidable experience.

“You are a group of ordinary people doing extraordinary things and in this case, I really, really mean it.

“You are trying to build a community here. This hub is for everyone. Some of the people you help here are really disadvantaged and it is all of you who have saved a lot of them. You have actually made a difference. In some cases, you have actually saved lives, by being here, listening and doing.”

Mr Webb read the citation from the Queen, dated June 2020.

John Holmstrom, chief executive, explained that the charity started as Worthing Churches Homeless Projects but had since expanded to other areas in West Sussex.

He said: “It is really important to us that we are not Worthing focused. Half the services are in Worthing but many are now in the Arun district, as well as Horsham and Mid-Sussex.”

He said the charity had been ‘built on the shoulders of volunteers’. When he joined eight years ago, there were 150 volunteers and now that number has doubled.

Mr Holmstrom said: “I think what struck the assessors was the breadth of our volunteers, in age and background, the range of skills, because we don’t have set roles. We all have talents and we match them.

“It is a resource and it makes a difference, it saves lives. It creates a bridge between our community out there and our clients.”

He said the award assessment had been a ‘really rigorous process’.

Mr Holmstrom added: “We feel there were good questions asked of our volunteers, our staff and our clients. It is an enormous honour. I cannot describe the pick-me-up when we heard the news.”

The charity is one of the largest providers of homeless services for single people in West Sussex, running 21 projects in various locations.

It saw a steep rise in the need for its services due to the pandemic and the exceptional circumstances led to the launch of its first Emergency Appeal, asking for support from the community.

Mr Holmstrom said: “Covid really impacted the charity but it brought the best out of us.”

He highlighted as an example the 967 cooked meals that were delivered by volunteers at Christmas.

The charity supports clients in residential projects and homeless men and women through outreach work. Visit www.turning-tides.org.uk