Royal honour for Torbay Hospital Nurses League

Published: 14 November 2026

For more than 80 years, generations of nurses and midwives with a connection to Torbay Hospital have stayed in touch, looked out for one another and found countless ways to support the patients, families and colleagues who followed them.

Now Torbay Hospital Nurses League has received the King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award given to voluntary groups in the UK. It is equivalent to an MBE.

The League was founded in 1945, three years before the NHS, as a way for nurses to maintain the friendships and support they found through nursing. Today its members live across the UK and around the world, but remain connected by their affection for Torbay, their pride in nursing and a simple ethos that has endured throughout the League’s history: ‘nurses supporting nurses’.

The League’s support can often be found in the small things that make a difficult day a little easier: a handmade syringe driver bag or knitted heart for someone receiving palliative care, a memory box for a family, toiletries for someone admitted unexpectedly, or a welcome pack waiting for a nurse who has travelled from overseas to begin a new life and career in Torbay and South Devon.

That same instinct to look after people extends to the staff working at Torbay Hospital today. This year, members have been visiting wards with wellbeing boxes for staff, continuing a tradition of one generation of nurses looking out for the next.

Much of this is paid for through the League’s craft fairs and coffee mornings, with members making many of the things they sell and give. But perhaps the most enduring thing the League offers cannot be put in a box or handed over on a ward: friendship, a sense of belonging and a connection between generations of nurses and midwives that has lasted for more than 80 years.

Julie Back, Vice-President of Torbay Hospital Nurses League, said: “We are absolutely delighted and so proud to receive the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. It is a wonderful honour for everyone who has been part of our League over the years.

“Our motto is ‘nurses supporting nurses’, and that is exactly what we try to do. Some of the friendships within the League go back decades, but we are also very much part of hospital life today. We want to support the nurses and midwives working now and do whatever we can for patients and families.

“Nursing has changed enormously since the League was founded in 1945, but friendship, kindness and looking out for one another never go out of date.

“This award belongs to every member who has given their time to the League, past and present. I think the nurses who started it all those years ago would be very proud to know that what they began is still going strong today.”

Nicola McMinn, Chief Nurse at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I am absolutely thrilled everyone in our Nurses League. They are a very special part of Torbay Hospital and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“Many of our League members may have finished their nursing or midwifery careers, but their commitment to caring goes on. They continue to give their time, their skills and their friendship to Torbay Hospital and to the people who work and are cared for here.

“As a midwife myself, I think there is something very special about that bond between generations. Nursing and midwifery have changed enormously over the past 80 years, but that instinct to look after each other and to support those who come after us is still there.

“The King’s Award is a wonderful recognition of everything our Nurses League has given to Torbay over so many years. I hope every member, wherever they are in the world, feels enormously proud of what they have achieved.”

The League celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2025. Membership is open to nurses and midwives who trained at Torbay Hospital or have worked within Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, or its predecessor organisations, for two years or more.

Torbay Hospital Nurses League is one of 250 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. Their work, along with others from across the UK, reminds us of all the ways fantastic volunteers are contributing to their local communities and working to make life better for those around them.

The King’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to support their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate Her Late Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee and was continued following the accession of His Majesty The King. 2026 marks the third year of The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Recipients are announced annually on 14 November, the award winners this year are wonderfully diverse and include volunteer groups from across the UK, such as Reuben’s Retreat, a group supporting families after the loss of a child and families of children with shorter life expectancy in Greater Manchester; a group providing palliative care in Dyfed, Wales; and a group improving wellbeing in a rural community through plant and bake sales in Perth and Kinross.

Representatives of Torbay Hospital Nurses League will receive the award crystal and certificate from David Fursdon, Lord-Lieutenant of Devon in the coming months. In addition, two volunteers from Torbay Hospital Nurses League will attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in May and June 2027, along with other recipients of this year’s award.