GALLERY: Alnwick’s local heroes among those honoured at Duchess’s garden party

Volunteers and carers from Alnwick were among the guests honoured at a special garden party at The Alnwick Garden yesterday hosted by The Duchess of Northumberland, in her role as Lord-Lieutenant of Northumberland.

Check out our gallery of images to see if you recognise any of the Alnwick volunteers and carers who were present.
Included are representatives of Friends of Alnwick Hospital, Alnwick Rotary Club, Aln Valley Railway Trust, The Pottergate Centre, Hospice Care Northumberland, Alnwick Town Juniors, Alnwick Christmas Lights, Alnwick and District Food Bank, Alnwick Lions, Alnwick RBL, Alnwick Town AFC, Sam Gattens Memorial Day, Friends of Alnmouth Station, Alnwick in Bloom and Alnwick Ukraine Support Group.

Among the guests Her Grace was delighted to meet was community hero Andrew Carr who has gained national recognition because of his work clearing chewing gum off the streets of Alnwick.

Among the guests was Alnwick Town Mayor Councillor Geoff Watson who said “It was such a pleasure to meet the volunteers and carers today and seeing the number who were from organisations in our town is a reminder of why Alnwick is such a great place to live.”

Fittingly, the event was held in National Carers Week, which aims to raise awareness of the UK’s 6 million unpaid carers, as well as celebrating the incredible contribution they make.

Her Grace, The Duchess of Northumberland said: “There are so many extremely generous and extraordinary individuals in Northumberland who give up their time and energy, selflessly, to help others in need. I hear so many moving stories of the things people do, for the benefit of others less fortunate, some working for charities, many just working away quietly on their own,
frequently unnoticed, giving help where it is needed most. This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to them for the incredibly valuable work they do.

“Even though I’ve been hosting this party since 2011, the girls in my office are still receiving nominations for people who have given 20, 30, 40 and more years of service, it’s quite astounding. I’ve recently heard from a volunteer who sadly couldn’t attend but is still volunteering at almost 102!”

“The Garden Party has been supported through generous donations from businesses based in the North East who want to join me in thanking our volunteers and carers and I, in turn, would like to thank all the donors who enable The Garden Party to take place.”This Garden Party could not take place without the significant support of a number of supporters: Greggs PLC, Malhotra Group PLC, Dr. Tony Trapp, Living North, Potts Print (UK) Ltd, Ringtons, The Alnwick Garden, Alnwick Starbucks (23-5 Degrees), Diageo PLC, Fentimans Ltd., The Barbour Foundation, Sir James Knott Trust and Morrisons.