Royal garden party 'surreal' for award winners

A group of people from Lincolnshire have been honoured for their contributions to the local community during a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

The BBC Radio Lincolnshire Make A Difference 2024 winners joined the Prince and Princess of Wales for the celebration on Tuesday.

Emma Sellars, from Lincoln, who won the bravery award for highlighting life with inflammatory bowel disease, was among some 7,500 guests who attended.

She described being invited to the traditional ceremony as a "surreal moment".

Ms Sellars was a teenager when she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease which in her case required surgery.

"It's probably the biggest up I've had. When you've been laying in a hospital bed thinking 'I'm never going to make it out', then to be standing outside of Buckingham Palace. It's amazing," she said.

Ms Sellars was joined by her mum and other Make A Difference award-winners Stuart Wills, Liz Quiney, and Lisa Dean.

Mr Wills, who set up Bourne Bike Donations and Recycle, attended the ceremony with his partner Karen and said the invitation was "unexpected".

He won the BBC Radio Lincolnshire's Make A Difference green award for taking old unwanted bicycles, repairing them and giving them for free to people in the south Lincolnshire town.

"It is a massive event and something that I've never been a part of before.

"It's going to be certainly one that we are going to be talking about for a long time to come," he said.

Liz Quiney, from Gypsy Bridge near Boston, received her invite while eating her dinner and thought it was a scam.

Ms Quiney won the great neighbour award for helping make her neighbourhood a better place to live or work.

"I've never won anything," she said. "I never thought I would do that would require an award for it."

Speaking to BBC Radio Lincolnshire breakfast presenter Scott Dalton before the party, Ms Quiney said: "I'm so excited. I think I might burn out. This is literally a once in a lifetime experience."

There are usually three royal garden parties each year, with two at Buckingham Palace and one at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland.

The outdoor gathering on Tuesday afternoon was hosted by the Prince of Wales on behalf of his father, the King.

William was joined by his wife, the Princess of Wales, who made a return to Royal garden parties by attending her first one in two years.

Also at the event were William's cousins, Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

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