Pett Older People’s Project (POPP) was given the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and met Her Majesty during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, May 19. Community interest company De Etchingham was also honoured along with Friends of Sussex Hospices. POPP chairman Ann Nicholls and co-ordinator Sheila Thomas, who both helped establish the group, were invited to a garden party at the palace to mark the occasion. Ann said the group is overjoyed and ecstatic to be awarded after being unsuccessful when they applied last year. “The girls work long hours behind the scenes which many are unaware of and to have an official recognition of such standing is and was beyond our dreams,” she said. “We hope we continue to live up to expectations for our local community.” POPP is weekly club ran by volunteers from the village, and is a hub for isolated, lonely people over 65-years-old, living in the surrounding area. The 13 volunteers host up to 45 senior citizens every Tuesday at Pett Village Hall, providing entertainment and lunch as well as a variety of helpful services including toenail cutting, hearing aid maintenance and more. The Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex Peter Field will present the group with the award at its next meeting on Tuesday (June 7). POPP is one of 193 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to volunteer groups and is considered an equivalent of an MBE. The award committee chairman, and former broadcast journalist, Sir Martyn Lewis congratulated all of the winners. “The judging panel for this year’s awards were struck by the quality and breadth of all the successful groups,” he said. Civil society minister Rob Wilson added: “I would like to congratulate all groups who received this year’s Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, in recognition of their fantastic achievements.” Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage at www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/ 2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RyeandBattleObserver 3) Follow us on Twitter Text to display 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! The Rye and Battle Observer - always the first with your local news. Be part of it.