Talbot House was one of the lucky winners of the Queen's Award for Voluntary Services in the year 2005 after being nominated by the Chief Constable of Manchester, Mr Mike Todd.
This was a time of great excitement for the staff at Talbot House. Mandy, Ellie, Annette and Bernie received invitations to the Royal Garden Party in June 2005 on behalf of Talbot House-and so the shopping began for ‘the outfits’. When the great weekend arrived we set off from Manchester by train to London.
Arriving at the chosen hotel Mandy, Ellie and Annette shared a room while Berni, being the manager, was given a room of her own (actually being with the three girls would have been too much for Bernie). That evening we relaxed and let our hair down and a small amount of alcohol was included!
When the great day arrived nerves were jingling- but once ‘the outfits’ were on, a regal feeling swept over us.
We took a taxi to the Palace, and once we'd had our passports checked at the gates we were ushered through the Palace Hall into a world we never knew existed.
There were soldiers, sailors, airmen, firemen, lord’s, ladies and ‘outfits’ representing the whole world!!
The Queen arrived and her outfit was a simple pink dress, but the diamonds were real. We ate from bone china plates, drank from bone china cups and we even had ladies in waiting at the toilets with little hand towels.
The Queen made her way round the garden and greeted as many people as she could, we all curtsied and tried to be posh, until Ellie, being Ellie, just had to give the Queen a wave! The Queen did not wave back. The royal entourage followed and Prince Andrew spoke to Berni, commenting “Lovely weather isn’t it?” with Berni answering in a very posh voice “Yes it is, isn’t it”.
After we left the Palace we went for afternoon tea at the Ritz. It was very expensive however, so we ordered for one and shared it between four.
Tired and emotional we made a video at the hotel of our day.
The day was amazing. We are now officially THE UNSUNG HEROES. |
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