Kings Award for Voluntary Service goes to Big Breakfast Plus

The Kings Award for Voluntary Service went to a remarkable Swindon charity this year - Big Breakfast Plus.

The charity was founded in 1993 and, like many charities, has had a tough genesis with funding and premises over the years. It got a big personality injection four years ago when Charlotte Mannion joined and energised it with the support of Sarah Smith.

Swindon poet, Maurice Spillane said: "I remember when they started in the Pilgrim Centre with seven breakfasts a day from Monday to Friday. Last year they served 25,000 breakfasts and are open all seven days. They really do deserve the King’s Award.

"The guests are the homeless in Swindon, and those who live on the edge, compromised by food poverty with little income and a choice of outlay: rent, heat or food. The guests are not easily categorised. Every person with their own story is a unique category.

"I have interviewed several for previous articles and have come away chastened and uneasy because I have faced the obvious: that any of us could be a few slippery steps from being in the same situation.

"This was a unique occasion when the servers, all volunteers, were recognised. They pitch up at 7am to prepare meals, know their positions in the kitchen or the dining area, as listeners and doers. They show open doors and open arms from 7:30am to 9:00am. They have no expectations except ensuring that their guests are warm and well fed."

The award was made to Angela Proctor and Jim McCloud, representing the volunteers. The Lord Mayor, Councillor Imtiyaz Shaikh, the Lord Lieutenant, Mrs. Sarah Troughton, Shirley Ludford, head of FM105.5 and Deputy Lieutenant, and MP Heidi Alexander were all in attendance.

Maurice said: "We have the trustees and donors, farmers and retailers, the Pilgrim Centre itself, like a broad spread of the willing. Somewhere in the layers come the cooks as managers, the managers as activators, and Charlotte Mannion as the catalyst. She will retire soon and pass the baton. What a legacy she leaves behind.

"The King’s award is not an easy award to get, “hen’s teeth” according to the Lord Lieutenant. Big Breakfast Plus was only one of only two charities to receive the award in Wiltshire this year so hen’s teeth it is.

"We had tea and cake, listened to the speeches, clapped for the awards, ensured the dignitaries met the guests and heard their stories. And then we drifted back to the streets, some of us lucky to have homes, and cars to get to our homes, and so many guests who went to the places that only they know about. We’ll see them again tomorrow."

Please visit, @BigBreakfastPlus you would like to volunteer or donate £5 a month.