STAR Community Group at Oasis Academy Broadoak Receive The Kings Award!

We are delighted to share that Oasis Academy Broadoak's STAR community group has been awarded The Kings Award in recognition of their voluntary service! This Royal Award celebrates outstanding volunteer groups who are a source of pride and inspiration within communities across the UK.

What is the King’s Award for Voluntary Service?

Equivalent to an MBE, the King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS) is the highest award given to local voluntary groups in the UK.  Nominations are received from all across the UK. Following eligibility checks, nominations are assessed locally and then nationally, before a shortlist is presented to His Majesty The King for approval.

STAR was set up many years ago by the residents of the community. It involved the community centre, local police, housing association and councillors coming together to combat problems within their community.

In 2016, Oasis Academy Broadoak staff Debbie Evans, a Teaching Assistant, and Justine Hughes, an Admin Assistant, highlighted a deficit within the community to provide a warm, safe place for children to come together. They did their research and received £10,000 funding from Children in Need to set up a children and youth club. Since then, they have sought funding from other sources, but mainly from Jigsaw Housing who have enabled them to continue their work. They run the club from the community centre, adjacent to Oasis Academy Broadoak. 

Justine says, “Our club is well attended and we offer arts and crafts, board games, garden games, prams and pull alongs and also a tuck shop. We now have a coach coming in who takes the children onto the Oasis Academy Broadoak’s astro turf to play football. The club also has many parents who stay and attend and mingle with each other and join in with children’s activities."

"We have themed activities, e.g., Christmas, Easter, Halloween, which the children love! On average we have up to 50 children attending each week. On top of this we have Christmas parties for the children and the older residents within our community, bringing everyone together for some fun, food and festivities. We also have a company that comes in every year for our annual pantomime.”

Justine continued, “We previously identified that many of our families and older people are living in poverty and deprivation, so set up a foodbank and receive a weekly order from FairShare to support our families. For a couple of years we have been able to extend our support to the families by obtaining further funding for help towards energy bills, warm clothes, coats, hats and scarves and blankets. We also gained funding to buy slow cookers and airfryers so that families could save on energy.”

“We have a small group of volunteers that help each week from checking the register, buying bunnies, serving in the tuck shop or rotating our stock for the foodbank. We appreciate the time they give us every week to ensure our youth club and foodbank run smoothly.”

Please join us in congratulating Justine, Debbie and all of the volunteers at STAR on achieving this prestigious award!