Henley artist honoured with King’s Award for Voluntary Service.
WHEN you’ve won the highest award for voluntary service in the UK there’s only one thing left to do and that’s celebrate with a garden party at Buckingham Palace.
Julie de Bastion, from Henley, said she felt honoured to be invited to the King’s Garden Party having won the King’s Award for Voluntary Service in last year’s birthday honours for founding a child-centred project – Own Books - based in Henley which gives away free books to children of all backgrounds and ages without discrimination.
Ten years ago, Julie was reading to a class of school children and asked them what books they had at home to which they replied – they didn’t have any. Saddened and shocked by this news, Julie immediately toured charity shops, book shops and libraries far and wide asking for books which she then donated to schools so pupils would have a book of their own for free.
Julie and her volunteer colleague, Alison Shaw, chief administrator, attended the beautiful day’s event at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 8th May.
Where Julie was then able to give copies of the Poet Tree book as a gift to the royal children which is a collection of children’s poems written in Own Books’ workshops by children in less privileged circumstances to the royal children of a similar age.
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service was presented to Julie by Tim Cox, His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, at the start of the year and she was also invited to the garden party with other voluntary service award winners at an event which was bathed in sunshine.
“It was a magical day,” Julie said.
