Volunteers honoured for frontline community support in Consett
Foundation For Good, a grassroots charity based in Consett, County Durham, has been named a recipient of The King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest national honour for volunteer‑led organisations in the United Kingdom. The accolade will be formally presented during a visit to the charity’s Trafalgar Street community hub by His Majesty’s Lord‑Lieutenant of County Durham, Mike Butterwick CBE.
The award recognises the work carried out by volunteers who support local people and families facing a range of challenges, including poverty, food insecurity, social isolation, poor mental health and disability. The Lord‑Lieutenant’s visit will include meeting volunteers, staff and service users and a tour of the organisation’s facilities.
What the charity provides
Foundation For Good operates a multi‑purpose community centre in Consett that hosts a number of services and activities intended to meet practical and wellbeing needs. Among the facilities and services at the Trafalgar Street hub are:
- a food bank
- a wellbeing café
- a gym
- boxing facilities
The charity says its approach is "strengths‑based, people‑first" and is informed by lived experience, behavioural science and neuroplasticity, supporting individuals to make positive changes in their lives.
"We are incredibly proud of our volunteers and this award is a wonderful recognition of the commitment, compassion and hard work they give to our community," said Fraser Neill, founder of Foundation For Good.
In his remarks, the founder underlined the practical roles volunteers play: greeting visitors, preparing food parcels, serving in the café, supporting activities, maintaining the building and, crucially, giving people time and attention. He said the charity could not deliver its services without that volunteer workforce and welcomed the Lord‑Lieutenant’s personal visit as an opportunity to see the work first hand and to meet people whose lives have been affected.
Local consequences and wider recognition
For residents of Consett and surrounding communities in County Durham the award is both recognition and reassurance. It confirms that the lifeline services many people depend upon are being run to a standard judged exceptional at a national level. The presentation by the Lord‑Lieutenant also affords the charity greater visibility among civic partners and potential funders, which may help sustain provision.
Voluntary organisations in former industrial towns such as Consett perform a wide range of social functions that extend beyond crisis support: they are hubs for social connection, sources of practical advice, and places where people can access structured activities that support mental and physical health. The King’s Award will be a formal endorsement of that role for Foundation For Good.
| Organisation | Location | Key services |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation For Good | Consett, Trafalgar Street | Food bank, wellbeing café, gym, boxing facilities |
Volunteers who support the charity will be able to point to a nationally recognised award as evidence of the quality and impact of their work, and the formal presentation by Mike Butterwick CBE will bring their efforts to the attention of the wider County Durham civic establishment.
As commissioning pressures and demand for community services remain a feature of local public life, awards that highlight effective volunteer‑led models may also prompt stronger collaboration between statutory services, funders and local charities. For many people who use Foundation For Good’s services, the immediate effect is practical — access to food, companionship and activities — but the longer‑term value lies in the steady rebuilding of social networks and personal resilience.
The Lord‑Lieutenant’s visit will provide an opportunity for him to hear directly from volunteers about the challenges they encounter and the differences they make for people living in Consett.
