A BEAMINSTER couple in their 60s who spent two years volunteering in Nepal helping have been honoured for their efforts.

Judith and Simon Hill were in Nepal when it was devastated by the earthquake and despite the offer to return - and pleas from their family - stayed on to help victims rebuild their lives.

Now for the first time, leading international development charity, VSO, has thanked its star volunteers.

The Hills were presented with their VSO International Award in London on Tuesday.

Both survived the earthquake which killed more than 8,000 people and left thousands more homeless.

Before the disaster, Judith was working with the ‘Sisters for Sisters’ project – a mentoring scheme which enables older school girls, ‘Big Sisters’, to befriend younger school girls so that they stay in school.

When the earthquake struck, Judith and Simon were miles apart, given their schedules that day. It look Simon 24 hours to reunite with his wife, travelling 50 miles in terrifying aftershocks on roads strewn with crushed lorries and landslides.

Despite their family’s pleas to come home, they turned down repatriation. Instead, they spent several weeks trekking to remote and mountainous villages feeding back vital information to emergency coordination teams about where food, shelter and medicine were most urgently needed.

Eventually, Judith helped assess 58 damaged schools in remote areas and coordinated the building of 11 temporary learning centres to keep children learning when their schools had been reduced to rubble. Simon relocated to Kathmandu where livestock were badly affected. The pair have inspired donors to give thousands of pounds during various VSO fundraising campaigns.

Judith said: “Winning this award has been an unexpected pleasure, which we are delighted to accept on behalf of our Nepali friends. By mentoring young women who in turn, work with young disadvantaged girls, I have helped to broaden their experiences and knowledge of women’s health, plus increase their confidence.”

With 40 years experience in dairy farming Simon’s role was to work with farmers on a milk quality improvement program.

Simon said: “We feel very honoured but I also feel volunteering is a real team effort, there are lots of people behind the scenes.

“It is an honour but it just reminds me of all the people who live in Nepal who we have been working with and who are still working there now.

“It has certainly broadened our horizons. We understand a little bit better the plight of some people in the world and how their lives are different to ours.

“It has certainly made me realise that life here can be more simple than we make it and if the lights were to go out tomorrow life doesn’t end.

“I lived with that for 14 to 18 hours a day, you find a way round it. So it has made me a more resourceful person and more confident in what we can do.”

The Hills - being 63 - were 20 years older than the average volunteer but feel the older generation has much to offer.

Simon said: “People in our time of life have a huge amount to offer. We have got all our life skills we can share.”

The judges received more than 80 nominations for volunteers working in more than 20 countries, Since 1958, VSO has sent more than 66,000 volunteers across Africa, Asia, South America, the Pacific and the Middle East.

Following its launch this year the VSO Volunteer Awards will become an annual event.