Frome volunteers earn national award

Volunteers from the Barnardos shop in Frome

Frome volunteers have received a national award in recognition of their outstanding dedication and commitment.

Children’s charity Barnardo’s has presented the Marsh Trust Award 2014 to the shop in Kingsway Precinct.

The accolade is normally given to an individual, but the judges were impressed by the achievements of the whole team.

Several of the volunteers attended the charity’s recent AGM in London to receive the award.

They were nominated by Barnardo’s manager Judith Loughlin after both she and her deputy fell ill last year. Although cover was provided by other staff from elsewhere, the local volunteers worked longer hours than normal in order to ensure the shop remained successful.

The current team consists of 32 volunteers aged from 15 to 84 years old, who in the last six months alone provided more than 3,900 hours of help. During the same period they received a total of more than 5,700 bags of donations from the local community.

The Barnardo’s Frome shop is open Monday-Saturday from 9.00am-5.00pm and on Sundays from 10.00am-4.00pm.

The team always welcome donations of good-quality clothes, books, toys, games, bric-a-brac and accessories, as well as offers of help from potential volunteers.

Call (01373) 463513 or visit www.barnardos.org.uk