Hummingbird Heroes awarded King's 'MBE'

The Hummingbird Project, a Glossop-based, community powered clothing and support hub, has been presented with the prestigious King's Award for Voluntary Service.

Founder Jo Gregory learnt about the accolade - regarded as the MBE for volunteer groups - back in November, and this week she was honoured with a formal presentation by His Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant for the County of Derbyshire, Mrs Elizabeth Fothergill CBE and the Deputy-Lieutenant Mrs. Jackie Bird MBE. 

Speaking at the ceremony, His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant said: “I've been very privileged over the last few years to present the King's Award for Voluntary Service to some truly exceptional organisations, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be here today to present the award to the Hummingbird Project. 

“This award is for outstanding achievement to those who volunteer their own time in order to improve the quality of life for others in their local community, and you have certainly achieved that.  

“Any group doing volunteer work that provides a social, economic or environmental service to the local community can be nominated. Each one is rigorously assessed about the benefit it brings to the community and not all are winners, only those who do exceptional work that is truly distinctive and excellent. This is the highest award that can be given to local volunteer groups to recognise their outstanding work and is the equivalent of an MBE. 

“This year there were only 281 awards given nationally and only 32 awards have been made in Derbyshire over the last 11 years, so you can see how special you are.” 

The presentation, which was attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of Glossop, took place at the Partington Theatre, with Jo thanking them and all those who had helped create such a special occasion, including Bellies Not Bins and Cask and Kitchen, who provided the table decorations. 

Jo opened her speech explaining how the Hummingbird Project began in 2020 during Covid in her cellar at home, saying: “We just started handing out bags of clothes to people who needed them and to schools. Fast-forward to 2025 and we’ve roughly estimated that we’ve given away over two million pounds worth of pre-loved items.  

“Someone said to me ‘I bet you never thought it would get this big’ and without sounding conceited I did, because there was always a vision to be a conduit for kindness to provide an opportunity for people give, with our simply philosophy of ‘give what you can and take what you need’ which is the basis of a gift economy. 

“In a gift economy the currency is gratitude, sharing, reciprocation and connection. It’s a grassroots movement of people helping people and paying it forward, and there are many examples of that in this room today. People are powerful when they work together. 

“This award isn't for me, because no one person is responsible for this remarkable achievement, it's for everybody who helps us to build our little gift economy, incrementally changing our community for the good and being creatively wonderfully disruptive.” 

We asked Jo how she felt about receiving the award: “Incredibly honoured and humbled. This award is for everybody who has helped the Hummingbird Project to become what it has. It's grown massively and that’s all thanks to volunteer action in the community, and we're so grateful for everybody who helps us. 

“I'd like to say thank you to my board of trustees. I'd like to say thank you to my group team leaders, to all of our volunteers, and to the people of Glossop. They've created a really unique thing here, and they should all be very proud.” 

Jo went on to share about a brand-new Hummingbird initiative: “We've got a new project which we're about to launch, which is to make period products more accessible throughout the whole of the Glossopdale area. We're looking for local businesses and groups who might be able to help us with that, by sponsoring us or becoming a distribution site where ladies of all ages can safely come and be able to access the products in a dignified way.” 

As well as distributing over 150 clothing packs and more than 50 items of baby equipment per month, the project has also organised campaigns, including collecting and gifting over 4,000 Easter eggs, over 6,000 Christmas gifts for children and the elderly, and over 100 laptops and 100 mobile phones for local schools during lockdown. 

In March 2022, the project received National Lottery funding to rent their first headquarters, and in April 2023, they moved to a 1,600 sq ft unit where the community can now shop in style and comfort. 

The Hummingbird Project operates on a 100% volunteer basis and relies on donations from the community. For more information visit: https://hummingbirdhubs.co.uk

Photo credit: Cllr Anthony McKeown