The Phoenix Swimming Club for Disabled People has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service from Her Majesty the Queen which recognises the outstanding service it has provided to the disabled community in and around Coventry for the last 63 years.

At a ceremony taking place in St Mary’s Guildhall on Wednesday, HRH Earl of Wessex, is to present a scroll, signed by Her Majesty the Queen, and a glass crystal to volunteers, in acknowledgement of their service to the club.

Naima Ali-Khan, club secretary said, “For the Phoenix Swimming Club for Disabled People, the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is a seal of validation, in appreciation of the time and energy many people have given selflessly, in over 60 years of service to the community”

The Lord Mayor of Coventry, Councillor Hazel Noonan agrees “This award acknowledges and recognises the tremendous support that the volunteers past and present have put into the club to make it successful. Without the enthusiasm of these people the club wouldn’t be the tremendous asset to disabled people in the area that it obviously is”

The club was established in 1951 but its roots are to be found in the “Enterprise Club for Disabled People” which formed out of a pioneering project set up in 1938 by three disabled men, supported by able-bodied friends and the local Council.

The first session of the “Enterprise Swimming Club” took place on Saturday 12 May 1951 at Livingston Road baths. Sessions continued to run at Livingston Road for over 63 years until the closure of the baths this year. The Club, now at its new home at the AT7 Centre, still endeavors to meet its aims and will continue to do so as long as dedicated people rise to meet the challenge.