STUDENT charity Oxford Hub has been given the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services, the equivalent of an MBE for charities.

Oxford Hub coordinates 50 volunteering projects across the city with students giving their time up to benefit more than 1,000 people each year.

Its president Henry Owen, 21, said: “I’m so pleased that the hub has been honoured by this award.

“It recognises students’ passion and dedication to positive social change.

“It’s great to receive recognition for the progress we’ve made towards our goal of making volunteering an established and normal part of the student experience at Oxford University.”

The biomedical sciences student said: “Since its inception the hub has encouraged more students to give back to the local community and become citizens of Oxford rather than just temporary visitors.

“We’re very proud of the many student-led projects that we’ve supported through their initial stages that we’re now seeing flourishing in Oxford, and we look forward to incubating the next generation of innovative projectd for social change around the university.”

One of these projects is Oxford Aid to the Balkans (OXAB), which runs volunteering trips to Albania, Bosnia and Bulgaria.

Lucy Long, 20, is the president of OXAB and on Oxford Hub’s committee. She said: “OXAB gets resources from the hub that we wouldn’t get anywhere else.

“We can use their rooms for free and they run training sessions in things like social media and fundraising.

“It’s the place that students go to for information about volunteering, so if you sign up with the hub you get access to 7,000 people.”

The second-year Oxford University geography student added: “It’s great for bringing people together and opening a dialogue for different charities to collaborate.”

Oxford Hub, which was set up in 2007, also fundraises for charities such as Helen & Douglas House, a hospice for ill children in East Oxford.

Run by 14 students, Oxford Hub is the only group in Oxfordshire to receive the annual award.

Representatives of the hub will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace on June 10 with fellow Award recipients.

The Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Tim Stevenson, will also officially present a certificate signed by the Queen and a commemorative crystal to the hub at a special ceremony later in the year.

Across the country there were 111 groups recognised by the Queen, selected from more than 300 which were nominated by members of the public.

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