A COMMITTED volunteer of 40 years standing has been awarded an MBE for services to young people.

David Hartley, 74, has worked with the Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade at St Lawrence with St Paul's Church in Longridge since first joining to help his son's group in 1980.

Since then he has become one of the stalwarts of the group rising to the rank of captain, which he has held since 1987.

He said: "My son joined the brigade in 1980 and then a call came out from the officers in charge saying that they needed help after some of the people running it had left.

"So I went down and all these years later here we are."

Mr Hartley's son and daughter both joined the brigades and many years later his granddaughter was able to join them too.

Explaining the work they do, Mr Hartley said: "Basically we meet one night a week and we work for badges, we have a drum session and it helps bring everyone together."

He added: "It's been strange this year after coronavirus locked everything down but we've used zoom and its worked quite well, it keeps everyone together and keeps people involved."

To find out more about the Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigades at St Pauls, go to: https://www.stlawrencewithstpaul.org.uk/43/Church-Lads-Church-Girls-Brigade.