FIFTY years to the day since her coronation the Queen has honoured the Salisbury-based Trussell Trust with her Golden Jubilee Award for voluntary service in the community.
The award announced at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace on Monday comes just six years after the trust was set up to help families in crisis.
Commenting on the royal accolade Paddy Henderson - who with his wife Carol founded the trust in 1997 - said everyone was finding it difficult to believe it. "It is truly stunning," he said.
Soon after its formation the trust began a unique scheme to help needy families in the Salisbury area by holding food banks where volunteers collect tins of food from outside supermarkets.
From small beginnings, when a few odd tins were collected, the food bank idea has grown until today when collections bring in more than a ton of food, all of which is distributed to families in need in south Wiltshire.
The trust is one of 16 groups in the south west and 200 across the UK to receive the jubilee award.
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