Awesome day out at the Palace as The Heath's community volunteers join King and Queen at VE Day Royal Garden Party

Volunteers from The Heath Business and Technical Park's community team were overjoyed to attend a VE Day Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla on Wednesday.

Eileen Miller, Site Charter and Community Manager at The Heath in Runcorn, and three of her volunteers — Ann Varty, Gill Banks and Eileen Erlis — received very special Royal invitations in recognition of the work they undertake at ‘Eat@TheHeath’, a club for the over fifties which has become a focal gathering point for companionship, friendship and fun as the antidote to loneliness and isolation.
The club, formed by staff members of SOG Ltd, the owner and operator of the award-winning business park, stages weekly gatherings including entertainment, monthly luncheon-dances and special Christmas functions with daytrips organised during the year too. The Heath also has a community garden managed by volunteers that provides a peaceful and tranquil space.

Although primarily a business centre, The Heath has become a vital community facility for local residents. Last year Clare Hayward MBE, The High Sheriff of Cheshire, praised the ‘amazing’ volunteers who run the Eat@TheHeath Community Group saying it was important to recognise their efforts because of the time they give up running the popular community programme and ‘their energy, vision and passion’.
Earlier this year Eileen and three of the volunteers were surprised to receive invitations to Buckingham Place where they joined 8,000 guests including diplomats, VIPs and World War Two veterans for the VE Day Royal Garden Party.
The King and Queen were joined by other senior members of the Royal Family including Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Eileen Miller said afterwards: “It was an awesome day! It was so lovely to see King Charles and Queen Camilla as the National Anthem was played and then to see Princess Anne mingling with guests. My volunteers were overjoyed and just couldn’t believe they had been invited to such a special and very memorable occasion. They will remember this day for the rest of their lives. It was a proud occasion for all of us.”

London was bathed in sunshine for the first Royal Garden Party of the season with cups of tea, sandwiches and slices of cake served to the guests in the grounds of the Palace.

The eat@theheath voluntary initiative is run by Eileen Miller and Alison Albion, another member of The Heath Community team, four other members of staff and a community police officer. They are supported by a small group of volunteers in a scheme that encourages people to attend to combat their own loneliness and then to engage with each other to cope with isolation and mental health issues.
About The Heath
The Heath Business and Technical Park is a phenomenal regeneration success story. Formed in 2000, its owner and operator, SOG Ltd, has transformed a once single occupancy corporate facility into a thriving independent business park. The Heath now provides office and laboratory accommodation for around 125 individual organisations, ranging from business services and IT specialists to those at the cutting edge of science, research and advanced manufacturing. The Heath supports around 2,000 jobs. For further information, telephone 01928 515988 or visit www.theheath.com

About The Heath
The Heath Business and Technical Park is a phenomenal regeneration success story. Formed in 2000, its owner and operator, SOG Ltd, has transformed a once single occupancy corporate facility into a thriving independent business park. The Heath now provides office and laboratory accommodation for more than 120 individual organisations, ranging from business services and IT specialists to those at the cutting edge of science, research and advanced manufacturing. Around 2,000 people are employed at the site. For further information, telephone 01928 515988 or visit www.theheath.com

For more information, please see:
www.theheath.com

PAUL SMITH ASSOCIATES
9th May 2025