THE man synonymous with Bridport’s Remembrance Day parade for more than four decades will receive his British Empire Medal at a special ceremony next month.

The investiture of Reginald Vivian May, better known as Fido, will be in Bridport Town hall at noon on Friday August 28 and be carried out by the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset Angus Campbell.

Fido May is no stranger to honours – and no stranger to the hard work and dedication it takes to support community causes, from parish church restoration appeals to the RNLI and the Royal British Legion.

Fido, formerly of the Queen’s Royal Lancers, already has a town plaque presented to him in 2012 for his work organising the town’s Remembrance Parade for four decades.

When he was presented with it four former mayors of the town paid tribute to his dedication and efficiency in the role.

He was also presented with the RNLI’s gold award in 2009 for his work for the charity.

He was Bridport and district RNLI president for many years and was presented with the institution’s gold badge by HRH the Duke of Kent.

He was then only one of two people in Dorset to be awarded the badge in recognition of his work for the RNLI.

He was also a member of the RNLI’s national committee of management for fundraising and was also chairman of the American and international committee which funded three lifeboats.

He also helped with fundraising for Bridport’s St Mary's church £100,000 stonework appeal which reaced its target in a year and helped browbeat the BBC into paying towards tower restoration at Powerstock Church when it came to film Village Praise there in 1993.

Like many parishioners, he remembered the days when Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced was filmed in the village, and houses in the neighbourhood were rented out for hundreds of pounds.

He is reported to have said to the BBC producer who wanted to deal with the mild-mannered chairman of the parochial church council: “Now look here the treasurer of the PCC is a good Christian woman. You're dealing with me now and I'm the best pheasant shot in Dorset.”

He was also happy to participate in the Bridport News’ version of ‘Where’s Wally’ when his picture would be planted somewhere in the paper for readers to spot.