The Heart of Hayling Boxing Academy is proud to have been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Services following an extensive and in depth assessment by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre earlier.
This is the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK, the award aims to recognize outstanding work by local volunteer groups to benefit their communities, being created in 2002 to celebrate the Queens Golden Jubilee.
The Academy is believed to be the only volunteer group from Hayling Island to receive this prestigious award and is a tribute to all the hard work of the coaches and support staff of the Academy since its formation in 2018. Not only do the coaches give their time to the boxing academy, but during the initial Covid pandemic delivered over 16,000 medical prescriptions across the island over a period of 6 months. A summer literacy school was run during the pandemic to assist youngsters finding difficulty coping with the lockdown.
The academy is a true community group that could not exist without the unstinting support of its Trustees, the Hayling Community Centre, local businesses including Hayling Print, Hayling Fruiterers, The Hayling Herald, The Hayling Trader, The Lions Club, Beach Road Garage, AccountArk, Hayling Bookshop, Barretts Engraving, Mengham Co-op, Hayling Community Centre, Q Shillingford of The Heart of Portsmouth, and countless individuals.
All these organizations and individuals can be proud that their input has contributed to this recognition and they share in this Queens Award for Voluntary Service.