Winners of 2024 King's Award for Voluntary Services revealed

The Steamship Shieldhall Charity (SSC) will be presented with the King’s Award for Voluntary Service ahead of the vessel's 70th birthday next year.

SSC is one of 281 charities, social enterprises, and voluntary groups to receive the latest annual award.

Widely regarded as the equivalent of an MBE, it was created in 2002 to mark the late Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee and was retained following the accession of King Charles.

The Steamship Shieldhall on Southampton Water, with the Marchwood incinerator in the background (Image: Steamship Shieldhall Charity)

Hampshire winners include the volunteers who staff the Bursledon Brickworks Museum, which is next to the M27 motorway.

The works were established in the late 1890s. Demand soared as people living in the countryside migrated to cities, sparking a building boom, and at one stage the site was producing 20 million bricks a year.

It finally closed in 1974, when a combination of factors, including rising costs, meant the once-thriving business was no longer viable.

READ MORE: From sludge ship to historic marvel - fascinating history of the Steamship Shieldhall

Andy Elford, chairman of the Bursledon Brickworks Museum Trust said: "I'm always amazed by the depth of knowledge and range of skills that our valued volunteers bring with them when working at the museum.

"It is our volunteers that really make the museum viable, with many hundreds of hours donated every year.

"The King's Award for Voluntary Service is the highest accolade possible, representing the ultimate reward for the skills and enthusiasm every volunteer brings to the museum and happily shares with the wider public."

Other winners of the award include Bursledon Brickworks Museum, a former factory that used to produce 20 million bricks a year (Image: Supplied)
Other Hampshire winners include the 60 volunteers at the National Coastguard Institution (NCI) station at Lee-on-the Solent.

A spokesperson said: "The volunteers are dedicated to the protection and preservation of life along the local shoreline and in the Solent, through being the ‘eyes and ears’ of HM Coastguard."

They strive to improve water safety in the area by carrying out beach patrols, giving talks and visiting schools.

NCI, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, has 60 stations around the English and Welsh coastlines, six of which cover the Solent.

READ MORE: Bursledon Brickworks Museum set to replace asbestos roof

The Lymington-based New Forest Basics Bank (NFBB), which boasts 279 volunteers, has also won the award.

NFBB was founded by a group of Lymington churches in 2004 and moved into new premises in April 2020, a month after the start of the pandemic.

A spokesperson said 870 households received at least one parcel of food and household essentials in 2023.

"In total, 4,741 household parcels were sent out along with 203 parcels for local schools and youth clubs. The parcels are full of fresh fruit and vegetables along with home-made cakes, toiletries and fresh dairy products," they said.

Winners of the award will be presented with their accolade by the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson.

He said: "It’s a tremendous achievement to be recognised for making an outstanding voluntary contribution to the fabric of our communities.

"I am delighted that this year five groups across Hampshire are receiving the King’s Award for Voluntary Service for the work they do in providing services that ensure our people, communities and heritage thrive.

"The award provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness for their essential work and I look forward to celebrating their achievements."

Based at Southampton's Western Docks, the Steamship Shieldhall is run by more than 100 volunteers who donate 30,000 hours each year.

SSC chairman Martin Phipps said: "It is a fitting testament and reward to all the hours of hard work our volunteers put into not only preserving, maintaining, and crewing Shieldhall but also to everything Shieldhall gives back to the community.

"We look forward to ensuring she remains at the centre of the Southampton community and is 'alive and steaming' for many years to come."

The Steamship Shieldhall provides pleasure trips in the Solent area each summer (Image: Steamsh)

The 1,972-ton vessel was built and launched on the River Clyde in 1955.

For many years she was owned by Glasgow Corporation, which used her to take treated sludge out to sea as well as providing pleasure trips in the summer.

Bought by Southern Water in 1977, she was finally withdrawn from commercial service in 1985. Three years later the ship was purchased by SSC for £20,000.

A spokesperson said: "Steamship Shieldhall is one of the country’s most important historic vessels, her heritage significance underscored by her listing as part of the National Historic Fleet.

"Each year, she provides thousands of people with the opportunity to experience steam-powered sea travel.

"Her hull and superstructure are as they were when she was built. Her boilers and steam engines are original and of a similar configuration to those of far earlier vessels, such as RMS Titanic.

"Shieldhall is one of the very few active vessels worldwide that can demonstrate the steam technology that eclipsed sailing ships in maritime trade.

"Her unusual combination of riveted and welded joints is illustrative of the transition in shipbuilding methods after the Second World War."

The spokesperson said technology aboard the vessel dated from the late 1800s and was widely used on merchant ships until the 1960s.

"Surviving vessels with this technology are invariably static. Shieldhall is one of a few that can be experienced in operation."

This comes as The Duke of Edinburgh visited Ahmad Tea in Chandler's Ford yesterday to deliver staff the King’s Award in Sustainable Development for their work helping to improve lives of people around the world.

Ahmad Tea is one of 29 organisations around the country to be recognised with the honour in 2024.

During his visit to the company’s headquarters, Prince Edward, who was accompanied by Countess Mountbatten of Burma and the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, was presented with a box of tea called Royal Ceylon which had been blended especially for the King.