22nd March 2021
Three Monday Night Club Volunteers receive awards from the High Sheriff of Worcestershire!
The High Sheriff of Worcestershire, Mark Jackson OBE, has honoured three Monday Night Club volunteers for their work during this last year. The High Sheriff Awards recognise ‘great and valuable services to the community’ and the appreciation of the residents and people of the County for enhancing the life of the community.
Laura Gill, Tom Langfield and Ray Cooke received the Awards at individual ceremonies. Laura, the charity’s founder member and leader, has spent the last year keeping club members’ spirits up. Her determination to keep everyone connected produced over 150 hours of live social media during the lockdowns. “Our members were struggling with their mental health, and, knowing what that is like from my own experience, I did everything I could to help them get through this year.”
Tom has been a dedicated and hard-working volunteer for The Monday Night Club for over six years and has the special responsibility as Assistant Manager of their football club. Tom, who has lived experience of a learning disability himself, has taken a leading role in the delivery of the club’s new small-group activities, Circles of Support.
Ray, who has never let his disability hold him back, said “I am very surprised and honoured to receive this award from the High Sheriff. If it wasn’t for the MNC I would not be the person I am today.”
Helen Gill, CEO of the charity, said “the staff and other volunteers would like to thank Ray, Tom and Laura for their unfailing support, boundless energy and enthusiasm for keeping in contact with all our members during this most difficult year.”
“I have received a large number of nominations for the Sheriff Awards from across Worcestershire,” said the High Sheriff. “All of them containing details of the fantastic dedication and work that people give to support others and very worthwhile organisations that are such a fundamental part of what make our communities so special. The three awards I give today to Laura, Tom and Ray are typical examples of that generosity and good citizenship that we see every day across our county.”
See the story in the Worcester News
See the story in the Worcester Observer
16th May 2020
Leo’s Lockdown Art Auction
Leo Bennett has created a series of watercolour and pen animal portraits which he auctioned on Facebook in aid of The Monday Night Club.
Leo has been enjoying The Monday Night Club for five years and it has provided him and his family with friendship and support. During the Covid-19 pandemic The MNC has been unable to hold their weekly disco. The members are missing the social highlight of their week!
Leo’s Lockdown Art Auction raised £528!
Read the whole story in the Worcester News
2nd June 2018
Worcester’s Monday Night Club receives highest honour from the Queen
It has been announced this morning that The Monday Night Club have received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2018, the MBE for groups. This year it is one of only two groups to receive the award in Worcestershire. It is appropriate that in Volunteer Week a group such as The Monday Night Club – a totally volunteer-run organisation – should be recognised with this honour. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Independent Committee Chair, former broadcast journalist Sir Martyn Lewis said:
This year’s record number of Queen’s Award awardees are a powerful testimony to the remarkable achievements and innovative ideas which characterise volunteering in the UK. They prove that, more than ever, volunteers beavering away at grassroots level are the active lifeblood of our communities, identifying all kinds of problems and issues and tackling them with enthusiasm, talent and a high degree of success. The recipients of the Queen’s Award are at the very top of a formidable volunteering movement in the UK involving millions of our citizens, and going from strength to strength.
Laura Gill was selected by the Lord-Lieutenant of Worcestershire to attend to the Royal Wedding in May because of her work with The Monday Night Club. She was accompanied by her mother Helen Gill. Now, because of this Award, they will both be attending a Buckingham Palace Garden Party on Tuesday 5th June.
19th May 2018
Laura Gill and her mother, Helen Gill, attend the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle
Our founder member Laura Gill and her mother Helen attended the Royal Wedding at Windsor Castle today.
‘I could not believe I was invited!’ Laura said, ‘Why me? This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened. I can’t wait to see the children, George and Charlotte, all dressed up.’
In fact they saw more than that! All the members of the Royal Family that attended the wedding, plus many celebrities walked close by to where they were standing. Laura’s favourites were James Blount, James Corden and Victoria Beckham. Helen’s most exciting moment was taking a close-up photo of George Clooney.
18th May 2018
Read Laura’s Story on the BBC News website
17th May 2018
Laura Gill makes the front page of BBC News online! ‘We’re off to the royal wedding’
9th April 2018
Laura Gill is invited to the Wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle on 19th May 2018
The Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire selected Laura Gill as one of six people from Worcestershire to attend the Royal Wedding. She was nominated on the strength her contribution to the local community.
9th June 2016
Laura Gill wins Worcestershire’s Health and Wellbeing Volunteer of the Year 2016.
Our founder and Chair of Trustees has won a distinguished award as the top volunteer in Worcestershire who gives support to vulnerable people in our communities. She was awarded the honour not only for her work with The Monday Night Cub, but also her work with Speakeasy NOW.
These are the reasons in full why she received the award.
15th February 2016
Point of Light
Laura Gill has won a Prime Minister’s Point of Light Award!
A national award for volunteering has been awarded to Laura Gill, the founder member of The Monday Night Club. She received the award for her hard work organising The Monday Night Club and also for her work with Speakeasy NOW, Worcestershire’s self-advocacy organisation for people with learning disabilities – she is the Chair of Worcestershire People’s Parliament and a Health Checker.
Read the full story in the Worcester News >
14 October 2015
Beat Street
Our music videos project makes the news in Worcester and beyond. We premiered our videos in front of an audience in The Swan Theatre with VIP guests The Mayor and Mayoress of Worcester, Cllr Roger and Mrs Freda Knight.
21 April 2015
The Mayor of Worcester came to our BIG spring party. Alice in Wonderland re-visited. Some lovely photos were published in the Worcester News.
Mayor attends Alice in Wonderland Party
17 April 2014
This lovely photo of everyone appeared in the Worcester News
24 August 2013
Laura is hailed as a Superhero for Learning Disability Week 2013 >
20 August 2013
20 May 2013
The Monday Night Club Has Got Talent becomes a Film >
3 May 2012
The Monday Night Club will help others like Laura >