The famous Kop Hill Climb Festival, an event managed as part of Heart of Bucks, received the exciting news this week that they have been given the accolade of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2020.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest honour bestowed upon local volunteer groups to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities. Created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, it is the equivalent of the MBE for voluntary organisations.
The Kop Hill Climb Festival is one of 230 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. Award winners are wonderfully diverse and include volunteer groups of all sizes from across the UK. The number of nominations has increased every year since the award was introduced, demonstrating that the voluntary sector is thriving and full of innovative ideas to make life better for those around them.
“Kop Hill Climb is run totally by over 300 incredible volunteers, characterised by their commitment, passion and skill, who together create a unique event only made possible by their sustained and selfless voluntary service”.
– John Biggs, Kop Hill Climb Festival Organiser
Run by over 300 dedicated volunteers over a weekend in September, the Kop Hill Climb Festival takes place in Chiltern Hills outside Princes Risborough. The event is a revival of an historic annual hill climb for motorcars and motorcycles which dates from 1910 and has always aimed to preserve the spirit originally created by those dedicated amateurs over a century ago.
Volunteers plan all year round to offer the 12,000 visitors an inspiring weekend with a wonderful array of vehicles and good value for money entertainment for the whole family. Since the festival’s first revival in 2009, the event has raised over £750,000 for local charities and good causes.
More than 300 Kop Hill Climb Festival volunteers will receive the Award from the Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire later this summer, while two volunteers will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2021, along with the other recipients of this year’s award.
