Doreen Raymond from Oxted, Surrey, is to be recognised with a British Citizen Award Medal of Honour in recognition of their extraordinary endeavours. The British Citizen Award, in partnership with One Stop, is now in its fifth year and recognises exceptional individuals who positively impact their communities throughout the country.
Although the physical Medal Presentation Ceremony has been temporarily postponed due to social distancing guidelines, 25 extraordinary people are being recognised for their positive impact on society, their selfless giving, and their commitment to community. The provisional revised date for the official medal presentation is 22nd October 2020.
Doreen is being honoured for their services to the community with a BCAc.
Doreen is dedicated to serving the local community. She is 74 years old and has volunteered in various places for over 10 years, and still continues to do so. For 5 years Doreen has attended Tandridge Heights, a local elderly care home, every single day – visiting the residents, sitting chatting with them, assisting with meals and helping them attend the weekly Church services, which the residents know and love.
Doreen has found a way to ensure she lives a fulfilling life, but also ensures those she supports in the community have one too. Doreen will make it a point to ensure everyone is represented from the 95 year old who lives alone and has vowed to be at home till the end, to the priest now too old to recognise anyone from the parish, and she is always available, consistent and dedicated.
Doreen’s works have contributed positively to the psychological wellbeing of the elderly people she goes to visit. She reminds them they are seen, heard, valued and not forgotten. Her simple acts of going to the hospitals locally to visit people and play games gives families and the patients a chance to temporarily forget their health worries. Her visits to the deathbeds of those who are in the last phases of life helps them feel loved and cherished right up until the very end. No one should have to die alone, and Doreen’s work supports this philosophy. A true modern-day Florence Nightingale.
While some aspects of the Medal Presentation may have to change, the Medalists will all have a memorable day that they will never forget, which is fitting recognition for their amazing contribution to society. The event will be hosted by TV’s Tim Vincent, with BCA Patron’s Lord Dholakia and Dame Mary Perkins, co-founder of Specsavers also in attendance. Medals will be presented by senior figures from the sponsor community which includes Experian, Places for People, Objective HR, alongside Specsavers and One Stop.
The British Citizen Award was established in 2015, to recognise exceptional individuals who work tirelessly and selflessly making a positive impact on society. The BCA recognises true community heroes who would otherwise likely be overlooked. Dubbed the People’s Honours, many recipients have subsequently been selected to receive a Queen’s Honour after their endeavours have been recognised with a BCA.
Each Medal of Honour bears the words ‘For the Good of the Country’ and are presented to only a small number of exceptional individuals each year. The British Citizen Award is widely viewed as the nation’s way of recognising extraordinary, everyday people for exceptional endeavor and are truly representative of today’s multicultural Britain.https://loveoxted.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/bca-logo.jpg
