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Scouts win Royal award
SCOUTS from South Tyneside have received a prestigious Royal award – after 80 years of service.
The 22nd South Shields (Brownsea) Scout Group has won The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, the voluntary equivalent of an MBE.
The group will now receive a certificate from the Queen and a crystal trophy from the Lord-Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear, Nigel Sherlock.
Four representatives will also attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.
The group started on November 20, 1929, and has provided training, companionship and friendship for hundreds of members since then.
Group Scout leader Peter Glenny said: "We are thrilled to have received this prestigious honour for the work we do for the young people of the borough.
"Being nominated by someone not connected to scouting makes it all the more rewarding."
The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service recognises the hard work and contribution to communities by voluntary groups.
The 22nd South Shields (Brownsea) Scout Group was chosen from 341 nominations by members of the public. Coun Alex Donaldson nominated the group in 2008 when he was Mayor of South Tyneside.
In 2009, he presented Mr Glenny with 11 South Tyneside Council for Voluntary Service volunteering awards for the scout group at South Shields Town Hall.
He said today: "I'm pleased as punch for them. They have now been going for almost 81 years without a break, through the Second World War.
"It's good for the community and for South Tyneside that there are groups like this around."
The award's committee chairman Martyn Lewis said: "Outstanding volunteer groups across the UK all too often go without recognition for the truly amazing work they do.
"It's a great pleasure to celebrate the efforts of The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service winners in the North East, and help raise awareness of all they do for the benefit of others."
Morpeth Lions Club – which helped the relief operation during the town's floods in 2008 – was the only other North East England group to win an award this year.
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Weather for South Shields
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
