Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire looking forward to historic Coronation weekend

Wednesday, 3 May 2023 01:00

This weekend marks the Coronation of King Charles III and The Queen Consort, and Their Majesties’ representative in the county, The Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire Mrs Sarah Troughton, is looking forward to attending the historic event and celebrating alongside Wiltshire’s communities.

On Saturday 6 May the Coronation Ceremony takes place at Westminster Abbey, London, and on Sunday May 7 a special Coronation Concert will be performed at Windsor Castle with other iconic locations across the UK lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations.

Throughout the weekend of 6 May to 8 May, Coronation Big Lunches are taking place up and down the country, including Wiltshire, which will see communities celebrate together.

The Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire will be attending the Coronation Ceremony at Westminster Abbey and then on 7 May will be attending local events, including:

A Coronation Service in Christchurch, Swindon A Big Lunch event in Swindon Visiting Marlborough High Street to meet the Mayor at another Big Lunch event in the High Street Attending the main county Coronation Service at Salisbury Cathedral.

Wiltshire Council has been supporting local communities to host their own street party events as conveniently and easily as possible and has helped facilitate almost 40 in total. More information about The Big Lunch can be found at www.edenprojectcommunities.com/the-big-lunch.

Also, in honour of Their Majesties’ service to the country, the Royal Voluntary Service launched the Coronation Champions Awards for volunteers, an official Coronation project.

Six Wiltshire Coronation Champions have been selected for Wiltshire, each chosen for their volunteering work in the communities across the county. They are:

Anne Bank-Welsh, Bradford on Avon, Saxon Group Riding for the Disabled Association, Category - Supporting older people Emily Palmer, Marlborough, Duke of Edinburgh Award, YHA, Canal and River Trust, Student Nurse Council etc, Category - Community Laura Cottey, Salisbury, Regional Commissioner Girl Guiding, Category – Supporting young people and children Juliet Mosney, Salisbury, Royal Voluntary Service, NHS Solent Research Academy, Horatio’s Garden etc, Category – Health and Care Gemma Phillips, Salisbury, Volunteer community Leader for Abri Housing, Pantry Partnerships, Category - Community Phoenix Stewart, Swindon, Swindon and Wiltshire Pride, Category – Community.

More information can be found at www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/volunteering/coronation-champions-awards.

On the continuing theme of volunteering, The Big Help Out launches on Monday 8 May and gives people the opportunity to help out in local communities to make a positive change. From checking in on someone who’d like a bit of company or volunteering for a charity, people that can spare an hour a day, or even more, are being encouraged to sign up to lend a hand and help out.

More information and opportunities to volunteer for The Big Help Out can be found at: thebighelpout.org.uk. As part of The Big Help Out, The Lord-Lieutenant will be visiting volunteers from St. John Ambulance on 8 May as they launch a new defibrillator.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Mrs Sarah Troughton, said: “Well, the bunting is up all over our village and across the county and excitement is mounting. As the Coronation of our King is nearly here I would like to congratulate and thank the town and parish councils in Wiltshire and Swindon who have worked so hard and with such energy in their communities to make this historic occasion such a magnificent one.

“My husband Peter and I are fortunate indeed to be going to Westminster Abbey for the Coronation service. We will be getting up very early indeed on Saturday morning and look forward to sharing with communities how we got on.

“On Sunday 7 May there will be church services all over the county, and in between two of those we will drop-in to two Coronation Big Lunches, those wonderful occasions when neighbours and friends join together, share food and companionship and have fun.

“There are nine lucky couples chosen from all over the county who are attending the Windsor Coronation Concert on 7 May and they are certain to have a fabulous evening. We look forward to hearing their stories too.

“Thank you also to everyone for taking part in the Big Help Out event on Monday 8 May. It is an opportunity to promote volunteering in all its forms and lots of organisations will be giving us all a chance to see what services they offer and whether we can help in any way.

“Thank you most sincerely and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. God Save The King.”