COTSWOLD Canals Trust members are celebrating after receiving a special award from the Queen.

The Stroud based canal charity has received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest accolade awarded in the voluntary sector.

The trust is one of 241 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year.

The trust provides volunteer led - restoration along a 36 mile long canal corridor. Over 7,000 trust members with over 300 volunteers are actively engaged in the restoration, fundraising and trading activities, which in turn provide services that benefit people and nature by providing them with a green blue corridor.

The volunteers keep the towpaths and waterways clear which are enjoyed by over 250,000 people each year, Maintenance is provided in an environmentally friendly way whilst meeting obligations of restoring heritage structures.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities.

It was created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Recipients are announced each year on June 2, the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation.

Representatives of the Cotswold Canals Trust will receive the crystal award and certificate from Edward Gillespie OBE Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire later this summer.

And two volunteers from the trust will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2022, along with other recipients of this year’s award.

Siobhan Baillie MP, vice president of the Cotswold Canals Trust, said: “It is so wonderful to see this charity and its volunteers receive such a high honour.

“The Cotswold Canals Trust volunteers have done a great deal for Stroud in terms of leisure, amenities, tourism and employment opportunities.

“I congratulate everyone who has worked so hard and given so much of their time to help ensure Stroud is known as the best place to live in the UK.

“Well done to them all.”