Wiltshire charity for bereaved young people receives top UK award
Recognised with the King's Award for Voluntary Service
Wiltshire Treehouse, a charity based in Swindon, has been awarded the prestigious King's Award for Voluntary Service, the highest accolade available to voluntary groups in the UK.
The award is equivalent to an MBE and is a lifetime honour, given to groups that have made exceptional contributions to their communities.
Wiltshire Treehouse provides advice and creative programmes to support the emotional well-being of children and young people who are grieving, offering their services to those aged 0-18, or up to 25 with SEND, living or educated in Wiltshire and Swindon.
Sarah Bear, the charity's business director, expressed the team's joy at receiving the award: "I feel like I want to jump up and down and scream. It's so rewarding and heart-warming to have that recognition for everybody on the team."
Their support includes one-to-one sessions, family group programmes, and training for professionals working with young people.
Sarah emphasised that the accolade is shared by all who have supported the charity: "Actually, this isn't just the charities award. This is every single volunteer who has supported us to get to where we are.
"Whether that be they turned up at an event and helped deliver something, or whether it's one of our regular volunteers that works with our children or young people, or it's that person that puts some money in a bucket when we were doing the collection at Tesco's. This is everybody's award locally."
Discussing the impact of their work, Sarah noted: "100% of the children and the young people that come through our doors and receive support from our charity, go out feeling that they're not the only person that this has happened to. We've been able to reduce the reports of self-harm amongst young people by 50%."
Wiltshire Treehouse continues to make a significant difference by holding providing a space for children struggling with bereavement.