THE Friends of the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre have been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service - the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

The award was presented to Rosalind Cole, chairman of The Friends of the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre by the Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset Angus Campbell.

Volunteers welcomed more than 97,000 visitors to the centre in 2015 and they have helped visitors engage with this stretch of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

Phil Davidson senior warden said there were 79 volunteer members of the Friends of the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre.

“Volunteers assist with greeting visitors, selling items from the shop, identifying fossils and other finds, helping with fossil walks and rockpool rambles as well as providing local information.

“In addition some volunteers help with junior rangers, carry out internal maintenance tasks, assist with administration and organise social events for all 159 Friends both subscribers and volunteers”.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their communities. The Friends of the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre were nominated for this award by the Charmouth Parish Council.

Mr Davidson added: “The Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre is a small educational charity that was set up by the local community over 30 years ago to inspire visitors to engage with this incredible stretch of coastline. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please come and visit us or contact the centre on 01297 560772 or info@charmouth.org The centre was set up in 1985 to encourage safe and sustainable collecting of Jurassic fossils from the local beaches.

Mr Davidson said: “Since that time we have slowly expanded and now have three wardens plus a large group of hard-working volunteers. Being a charitable trust we are reliant on the support of a large and active friends organisation who help to man the desk, build displays and undertake management roles. Our latest phase of improvement was supported by the Fine Foundation and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

“Annually the centre welcomes around 90,000 visitors and more than 5000 school children as part of our educational programme.”

For more information about the centre look on its website charmouth.org/chcc