Organisers of Shrewsbury’s Bookfest have been enjoying the high life after being awarded a top honour from the Queen – and as a reward they got to visit Buckingham Palace for a garden party.
Members of the event’s organising committee visited the palace on Tuesday last week, just days after receiving the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the equivalent of an MBE for a charitable organisation.
The award was presented to members by former Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire Algernon Heber-Percy, and was awarded to the Bookfest for its work in ‘inspiring, enthusing and entertaining children through literature and the arts’.
It’s a major tonic for organisers, who are celebrating their tenth anniversary this year with a mini-bookfest in November featuring theatre performances of Pinocchio by Blunderbus Theatre Company. Plans for Bookfest 2010 are already well underway.
Committee members were donated first class railway tickets for their trip to the palace by Wrexham and Shropshire and were given a bottle of champagne by Tanners.
Sophie Peach, chair of the Bookfest committee, said: “Most other literary festivals are run by paid teams of professional organisers. But Bookfest is run entirely by volunteers, all of whom are parents and most of whom have other paid jobs, who collectively put in hundreds of hours’ work through the year.
“We are therefore especially honoured and thrilled to have won such a prestigious national award.”
Long-standing supporter and former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo, now a patron of the Bookfest, says: “Along with dozens of other authors and tens of thousands of children, I have witnessed the commitment and flair that has made Shrewsbury Bookfest what it is.
“Staffed entirely by a wonderful team of enthusiasts, Shrewsbury Bookfest is a beacon of excellence amongst literary festivals. It has been a joy and a privilege to have been associated with it.”