THREE Clydesdale groups received awards from Provost Mushtaq Ahmad at the SoLVE Quality Standard Awards held at Council Headquarters in Hamilton recently.
WRVS Rural Clydesdale Community Transport achieved a Quality Standards Award Plus.
This volunteer car transport service provides transport to people living in rural Clydesdale. The project supports people who are unable to access public transport or don't have access to a private car. Its services enable people to retain their independence and live active, healthy and happy lives at home and in their communities.
Volunteer drivers use their own cars to provide safe and comfortable transport to a wide range of activities. These include, shopping, hospital and doctor appointments, lunch clubs, visiting friends and relatives and accessing community support programmes.
The project also has a 12 seater minibus which is available to local groups and organisations for hire. A WRVS MIDAS trained volunteer drives the bus which takes people shopping, to the theatre and Christmas lunches, also working in partnership with local organisations to provide weekly services.
At present 24 drivers and six escorts as well as a number of former meals-on-wheels volunteers help with the annual Open Day in June and Christmas open night. ''Our volunteers are our greatest asset and it is through their hard work and dedication that so many people in rural Clydesdale are able to access services that would otherwise not be available to them,'' a spokesperson said.

Clydesdale Befriending Group achieved Quality Standards Award Plus.
The group was formed as a community initiative in response to a recognised need for support identified by adults with learning disabilities in Clydesdale.
The adults informed the community of the lack of social activities and support within normal leisure time like evening and weekends.
In response the Befriending Group organises One to One Befriending.
The volunteer is matched with a service user to support them accessing social activities throughout South Lanarkshire. Group Befriending encourages adults and volunteers to meet as a small group and organise small get-togethers in local venues.
Activity evenings provide a safe environment for adults to meet with friends and other volunteers, encouraging group participation and development of social skills.
Monthly outings and seasonal activities allow for the widening of the social experience by encouraging the individual to experience new activities and places further afield. All services are client needs led.
Volunteers are from all walks of life and bring together a vast range of skills and experiences which they are willing to share, and without which the group would not be able to function. From this ethos we have volunteers going on to further education and training and service users broadening their skills, knowledge and experiences to the extent that service users are now identifying their own skills and volunteering to share these with the group.

The State Hospital, Carstairs, achieved Quality Standards Award.
The State Hospital is a national resource which provides special security for mentally disordered offenders. The catchment area is the whole of Scotland and Northern Ireland, which makes travelling difficult for some of the relatives. Some patients have no visitors at all and given that the length of stay (on average) is 6.5 years, this can have a significant impact on the patients.
Volunteers provide a befriending service for patients and a welcoming service for the visitors and carers in the Carers Centre.
This includes an information library and information about carers meetings and updates on what is happening in the State Hospital.