Active8’s King’s Award: a proud day for Cornwall

A cricket match carried on in the summer sun behind them, but for one afternoon in St Erme the real event was a small crystal, a signed certificate, and 35 years of quiet, stubborn work finally being handed its highest thank you. On Saturday 1 August 2026, Cornish youth disability charity Active8 was presented with The King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the top honour a volunteer-led group in the UK can receive.

The award landed not in a grand hall but at the charity’s own Summer Community Celebration, surrounded by the young people, families and volunteers who make it what it is.

One of five in Cornwall chosen by the King

The honour was presented by the Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall, Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho, alongside The Lady Mary St Levan DL and Penny Shilston DL, at St Erme Community Centre. Active8 is one of only five Cornish voluntary organisations, out of 231 across the whole of the UK and the Channel Islands, chosen by His Majesty The King to receive the award this year.

That put a national spotlight on a corner of Cornwall, and the pride in the room stretched well beyond one charity. Nearly four in five of this year’s awards went to groups outside London and the South East, and Cornwall claimed five of them.

📷Active8’s ‘Kings Award for Voluntary Service’ Presentation Event. 01.08.26 at St Erme Community Centre.

Thirty-five years of changing young lives

Active8 was founded in Cornwall in 1990. Over 35 years it has worked with young people aged 14 to 30 who live with physical disabilities and life-limiting conditions, and with their families, across Cornwall and Devon.

The charity runs inclusive residential programmes, accessible adventures, life skills training, mentoring and the kind of peer friendships that outlast any single trip. The aim is to help young people move past isolation, build confidence and independence, and get on with living full lives. You can read more about its work at the Active8 website.

What the King’s Award for Voluntary Service means

The King’s Award for Voluntary Service is the equivalent of an MBE for voluntary organisations, and it is the UK’s highest recognition for volunteer-led community groups. It is awarded for life, and it celebrates groups whose volunteers have made an outstanding contribution to their local communities.

Lord-Lieutenants represent the monarch in each of the UK’s ceremonial counties, which is why Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho carried out the presentation in person. The crystal and the certificate, signed by The King, formed the centrepiece of the afternoon. Nominations for the 2026 award opened on 1 September 2025, and details of the recipients and how to nominate are on the King’s Award for Voluntary Service website.

‘It belongs to every volunteer’

Active8 Chief Executive John Sweeting, who first joined the charity as a volunteer more than 15 years ago, said the award belonged to everyone who has been part of the journey.

“Receiving the King’s Award for Voluntary Service is an incredible honour and one that belongs to every volunteer, young person, family and supporter who has been part of Active8’s journey,” John said. “Our volunteers are the heart of everything we do, giving their time, compassion and expertise to help young people discover confidence, independence and a future filled with possibility. To receive this award in front of our members and their families made the occasion even more meaningful, and we hope it inspires even more people to support our mission.”

📷Active8’s ‘Kings Award for Voluntary Service’ Presentation Event. 01.08.26 at St Erme Community Centre. Active8 Team Members: Front Row left to right: Tiahna Williams, Clare Stanley, John Sweeting, Tom Howard and Lindsey Cooper. Rapid Relief Team (in red aproons) who kindly cooked up the delicious BBQ food for all to enjoy at the event.

A celebration for the whole community

The presentation sat inside a proper party. The day’s youngest volunteers, Phoebe Sweeting, aged 10, and Imogen Sweeting, aged 6, led ‘sparkly’ craft creations, while a barbecue was cooked up by the Rapid Relief Team, another volunteer-led group, set up in 2013 by the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.

Live music came from local performers Sonny Palmer, Kate Keyworth and DJ Ross Wez, who kept the entertainment going through the afternoon. Between the food, the crafts and the crowd, the celebration doubled as a thank you to the volunteers whose commitment keeps the charity running.

Looking to the future

Active8 hopes the award will draw more attention to the barriers young disabled people face in rural Cornwall, and pull in more volunteers, supporters and funders behind its work.

The charity describes itself as small with a mighty mission: to help every young person overcome barriers, feel seen, valued and accepted, and live with purpose and possibility. On this evidence, His Majesty agrees.

📷Active8’s ‘Kings Award for Voluntary Service’ Presentation Event. 01.08.26 at St Erme Community Centre.