Lee Duerden receives British Empire Medal in King’s Birthday Honours List

So what are the charities and community groups that Lee Duerden supports?

This extensive list is by no means exhaustive but includes examples of the work he has done.

• Curry on the Street – Lee pays for the hire of a venue so that hundreds of people who need it most can get a warm belly of food when they have no other place to turn.   
• Disco for adults & young people with learning difficulties & physical disabilities – Lee pays for the costs of a venue each month.
• Christmas Lights – at the height of the financial crisis when Pendle Council announced there might not be Christmas lights because of budget cuts, Lee stepped in to pay for them to be put up and keep shining. As a show of thanks, the Council placed Lee’s company name ‘XLCR’ in one of the lights, directly outside the company’s HQ building in Colne.
• Friends of Cravenside – when the stove broke down just before Christmas, Lee stepped in and purchased a brand-new one so that this dedicated home for older people in the community could still enjoy Christmas Day lunch.
• Christie’s Children’s Hospital- working with his friend Jenny Purcell they loaded a car full of presents to be taken to patients who had no choice but to spend their Christmas in hospital. Lee and Jenny also gifted a number of iPads. The pair regularly team up together to help people that need it the most.
• Colne Football Club – when the club was failing financially, Lee invested tens of thousands of pounds, and under his stewardship increased gate attendance and finally saw the team promoted from the North West Counties League. He was made honorary President of the club in gratitude.
• Sponsoring Hamza Asghar – Lee’s support recently helped Hamza win a gold medal in the under 15/75kg category France Lutte Bordeaux International Wrestling Tournament.
• Pendle Forest Hockey – Lee’s company sponsorship helped the team become Tier 2 National Champions.
• Trawden Celtic – Lee’s company sponsorship helped this junior football team win the recent cup final. 
• Women’s Football Awards – Lee’s business was one of the first sponsors of the inaugural Women’s Football Awards in 2023.
• Millie – Lee gifted an impressive sculpture of a mill girl, fondly named ‘Millie’ which shares its name with Lee’s grandmother Mildred. The sculpture sits in the garden at Colne Railway Station car park at the gateway to the town. Designed to remind visitors of Colne’s industrial heritage and the town’s hard-working people, most of which were employed in the long-gone mills. It was created by sculptress Clare Bigger.
• Stone Guitar – by the cenotaph in Colne, Lee gifted a stone guitar sculpture and flower bed to celebrate Pendle’s musical heritage & The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival which is hosted each year in the town.
• Stone Spheres – Lee gifted another stone sculpture to adorn the high street, a number of spheres which were originally intended to be a water feature, again a nod to the area’s industrial past.
• Boris the spider – during Covid Lee staged a ‘monster takeover’ decorating his company’s HQ building in Colne with a huge inflatable spider on Halloween. Boris still makes annual appearances and on request for the fairytale procession and festival that takes place in the town each year.
• Colne in Bloom – a group of volunteers who specialise in creating and maintaining the town’s flower beds and displays creating a positive and aesthetic image to people visiting the town and those who live & work in the centre. Through Lee’s involvement the group gained awards, putting Colne on the map as national winners.
• Tree planting – Lee came up with an initiative to allow his xlcr car & van customers to pay to offset their carbon emissions, and working with Sarah Cockburn-Price at the Colne Youth Action Group, the XLCR team plant trees near to Pendle schools. 
• Sibes & Sled Dogs – originally helping by fostering Huskies himself, Lee got more involved and helped them establish an off-lead track and trail with the late John Duxbury.
• Pendle Dogs in Need – following a win on the premium bonds Lee donated the entire amount to the charity.
• Wil’s Wishes – continued support of the charity that was founded in Pendle in memory of Lee’s friend Wil Handford. The charity supports those affected by terminal cancer and the educational needs of under privileged children.
• BKs Heroes – a charity set up by the late Ben King to raise awareness of brain and kidney disease.
• Christ Church – Lee paid towards the cost of a Christmas tree and lights to support the churches Lights of Love ceremony, and he makes regular donations of £1836, which is the year the ground was consecrated.
• Cash for Kids – using the XLCR office building on Albert Road in Colne as a collection point, the XLCR team and its customers & friends donate presents so that disadvantaged children don’t wake up on Christmas Day without a gift.
• Lee makes regular one off ‘gifts’ to people that need it most.  From specialist wheelchairs or medical equipment to days out in Super Cars to make dreams come true, Lee is constantly asked and always willing to help out whenever he can.
• Nationally Lee is a regular supporter of the RNLI, Breast Cancer Now, Macmillan, MND Association, MS Society, Cancer Research & The British Heart Foundation