Solicitor Beverley Sunderland and her husband, two lead volunteers at the Vaccination Centre at Newbury Racecourse attended the royal garden party at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 8 May.
Beverley Sunderland and her husband helped co-ordinate a 400-strong volunteer force to deliver over 66,500 vaccinations during the centre’s six-month operation from January-June 2021. Other members of the royal family who joined King Charles at the party include Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, along with other invited guests.
Beverley Sunderland, founder and partner of Crossland Employment Solicitors said: “My husband and I were very honoured to be invited by the King to attend the Royal Garden Party, which we assume was for our work at the vaccination centre at Newbury Racecourse – it’s the only good we have done!
“We will never forget that time, or the amazing efforts of all the 400 volunteers who stepped forward to ensure the vulnerable and local community were vaccinated as quickly as possible, and worked in partnership with the great NHS team who got the centre up and running so quickly.
“But I wouldn’t have been able to consider taking on this major role if it hadn’t been for my amazing colleagues who stepped up to enable me to do it. They worked tirelessly despite home schooling their children, to ensure all of our clients were fully supported at this time and also helping worried and scared members of the public who were ringing in trying to understand the furlough scheme or reporting furlough fraud.
“Some law firms had put notices on their websites making it clear they could not deal with anyone who was not already a client, but our team took a much more public spirited approach and divided up the emails and calls between them and answered them, all in their own time.
“We decided to share our knowledge on the constant changes to the furlough scheme and we worked every weekend to send an update on what the new rules meant. One of my proudest moments professionally is still being at an event just as things opened up again and another guest who worked for a firm of accountants looked at my name badge and said ‘are you the same Beverley Sunderland who was sending out the furlough updates? They were our lifeline and we waited for them every week’. So thanks to my team for your incredible support throughout – and also for enabling me to attend the royal garden party!”
