Newport agricultural society given Queen's Award
A Shropshire agricultural group has been given an award for its efforts promoting the rural community, having held 110 shows.
Newport and District Agricultural Society, a group of 250 volunteers, has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.
The society organises the Newport Show held in July each year, showcasing the best of British agriculture. It has held 110 annual shows, the first one being in 1890, and what would have been the 111th cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The society also acts as custodian to Chetwynd Deer Park, a 200-acre conservation area just outside Newport. As well as being the venue for the annual show, the society also utilises the park to provide educational workshops and facilities for schools throughout the year.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. Recipients are announced each year on June 2, the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.
Representatives of the agricultural society will receive the award from Mrs Anna Turner, Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, in the autumn. Two volunteers from the society will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2021, along with other recipients of this year’s award.
The society’s chairman of trustees, Tony Asson, said: “We are delighted that the society’s work has been recognised. We have over 250 volunteers who are totally dedicated to putting on a high quality annual show.
"In a year when it has been necessary to cancel the show, this will be a great boost to morale as we start to think about the 2021 show.”
Cllr Lyn Fowler, Newport’s deputy mayor, nominated the society for the award. She said: “Newport Show has been part of the town’s life for many generations and it never ceases to amaze me how this dedicated team of volunteers are so enthusiastic about the society’s work. I offer them my sincere congratulations.”
