The Manchester Transport Museum Society, who’s members run the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester, are celebrating after being awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK and the MTMS are one of just 241 organisations to have received the award in 2021.
This well deserved award is recognition of the hard work the small group of volunteers from the MTMS do each year in preserving part of Greater Manchester’s transport heritage with, under normal circumstance, the tramway operating on selected dates throughout the year using their fleet of restored trams. Of course, these trams include representatives from the Greater Manchester area including the only remaining first generation electric tramcar from the City of Manchester itself – Manchester 765.
Speaking of the award, Philip Heywood, MTMS Chairman, said: “The Society is delighted that our contribution to the life of Heaton Park and to the preservation of Manchester’s ongoing tramway heritage has been recognised, and wishes to pay tribute to the hard work and commitment of our volunteers in contributing to the life of our Manchester community. The award is great recognition for a team that although it always works hard, has worked harder than ever over these last 12 months.”
The MTMS was set-up in 1961 with the aim of safeguarding the history of Greater Manchester’s tramways and from 1980 this aim was expanded to include the operation of the Heaton Park Tramway – the only truly preserved tramway in the UK.
Representatives from the Society will receive the award crystal and certificate from Sir Warren Smith, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, later this summer and (subject to restrictions at the time) two volunteers will attend a Garden Party ay Buckingham Palace in May 2022 along with other recipients of the award. For 2021 these include an inclusive tennis centre in Lincolnshire, a children’s bereavement charity in London, a support group for those living with dementia and their carers in North Yorkshire, a volunteer minibus service in Cumbria, a group supporting young people in Belfast, a community radio station in Inverness and a mountain rescue team in Powys.
This is the second year in a row that a team of volunteers from the heritage tram sector have been recognised with one of these awards with Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours rewarded in 2021.
Congratulations to all the volunteers at the Manchester Transport Preservation Society on your well deserved award!