At a ceremony in the beautiful surroundings of Combermere Abbey on Monday Afternoon, 4th October, the Wheelyboat Services Trustees and Volunteers were presented with the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service by the Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Cheshire Lady Redmond MBE.
This was the first time since pandemic days that we had managed to arrange a major gathering of our volunteers and partners so it was both a celebration of our award and a much delayed chance to catch up with friends and colleagues. It was also a chance for our new recruits who have joined us this year, to meet many of the other volunteers.

QAVS ceremony

Saturday night's Charity Band Concert was considered to be a great success by all who attended at St James Church.

The event was originally conceived by our old friend, Rodney Cottrell, but COVID and his passing rather delayed proceedings. However, Christine Cottrell continued to ensure it was not forgotten and the band were happy to arrange a date for this year. With the wonderful support of St James Church and Audlem Methodist Church members, we managed to organise a splendid evening of entertainment from the Cheshire Constabulary Band and Corps of Drums. Once again, the Audlem community spirit gave the band rousing applause at the finale which was so appreciated by the band, they gave us an extra 5 minutes of music to send us all home in good spirits.

![Band Concert 2.jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/dp37ibtgd/image/upload/v1679831609/Band_Concert_2_817e797eae.jpg)




Audlem Charity Band Concert

It was with sadness that we heard about the death of a lovely lady called Sharon Duncalf. Sharon was obviously a great admirer of the volunteer services of both Audlem Lass and Overwater Wheelyboat since she had requested that donations in her memory should be made to both of these services. . 

It was extremely thoughtful of her to make this bequest and we really appreciate the generosity of her family and friends in her memory. 

![Sharon Duncalf(1).jpg](https://res.cloudinary.com/dp37ibtgd/image/upload/v1677251393/OWS_2309_37d4a33154.jpg)

In Memory of Sharon Duncalf

Overwater Marina once again organised and hosted a Quiz Night on Friday 22nd August, 2025, in aid of RNLI, via Audlem Lass, and Overwater Wheelyboat Services. Dave Johnson, the marina manager, did a brilliant job of entertaining everyone with the quiz, raffle and an auction of the larger prizes, ably assisted by Carol and Olive.

The total funds raised for Overwater Wheelyboat was just over £2000 which was gratefully received to help towards the running of our Wheelyboat and Wheelybus. We always aim to allow anyone who would benefit from our trips not to be excluded because of the cost of running the services so we only ask for a donation from passengers and these additional funds are important to that aim. 

This is especially so this year as we have had a few significant draws on our funds, with some minor but costly damage to the bodywork on our Wheelybus and the failure of our electric outboard motor on Wheelyboat. It is usually our Wheelybus which consumes the larger part of any expenditure, but the Wheelyboat outboard motor has required an outlay of over £3000. We have always been aware that as the mileages of our vessel and vehicle increased, the running costs would increase, so we have been able to absorb these costs without too much difficulty, but we are very grateful to everyone who took part and contributed in this year's Quiz Night so that we can keep running our trips, mostly to people who rarely get away from their home.

This has been an annual event so we look forward to next year and hope it is as successful for everyone.

Overwater Marina Quiz Night

We are delighted to have been nominated for a BBC Radio Stoke Make a Difference award in the Community Group Award Category.   #BBCMakeADifference

It is rewarding to see the impact we can make to people but a little recognition is always welcome. 


News

QAVS ceremony

Audlem Charity Band Concert

In Memory of Sharon Duncalf

Overwater Marina Quiz Night

Make a Difference Awards

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