Over 850 community and charity representatives invited to King’s coronation
07.04.2023 - 23:29
/ ok.co.uk
More than 850 community and charity representatives from across the UK have been invited to the King’s coronation. Invitations to the May 6 service at Westminster Abbey in central London have been extended to more than 450 British Empire Medal (BEM) recipients in recognition of their contributions.
Among them is record-breaker Max Woosey, 13, dubbed “the boy in the tent”, who raised more than £750,000 for North Devon Hospice by camping in his garden for three years. Some 400 young people representing charities will also be able to watch the coronation service and procession from the adjacent St Margaret’s Church.
The youngsters were nominated by the UK Government, the King and Queen Consort, who apparently "keeps a lid" on her husband's temper.The BEM recognises the achievement or contribution of service to the community in a local area. Many recipients attending the coronation were “instrumental in providing services and support to their local communities during the Covid-19 lockdowns”, Buckingham Palace said.
Max, of Braunton, Devon, first pitched his tent in March 2020 with the aim of raising £100, inspired by his neighbour and friend Rick Abbot, who died of cancer in February 2020. He went on to set a Guinness World Record for the biggest sum raised by camping, with the proceeds paying for 16 community nurses in north Devon.
Other BEM recipient invitees include Dawn Wood, a constable with Essex Police’s marine unit, who became the second fastest woman to row solo across the Atlantic in February 2019, after a 3,000-mile journey from the Canary Islands to Barbados in 51 days. Since then, she has visited more than 50 schools and communities to talk about her experiences and raise awareness of marine plastic pollution,
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