THE nicest thing about receiving the MBE, said recipient Helen Jenny from St Ann's Chapel, was the many phone calls she received from people she had helped through the Duke of Edinburgh scheme over the last 40 years.

Miss Jenny, 61, was awarded for her services to young people in Devon and Cornwall and to Dartmoor National Park.

The East Cornwall-born resident was a secondary school teacher in Plymouth for 31 years, specialising in PE and geography, and a volunteer leader with the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme.

When she retired from teaching she continued volunteering and became a member of Dartmoor National Park and helped with the education and outreach services.

She helps run the Ranger Ralph Club for 5 to12-year-olds, teaching outdoor skills and encouraging a love of Dartmoor.

'It is wonderful to be able to share my passion with other people,' she ­said. 'These young people will hopefully be the future custodians of Dartmoor so to go out and explore the moor with them is very rewarding.

'I feel absolutely amazed that someone has thought it worthwhile to nominate me for an MBE for doing something which I love.

'The nicest thing has been how many young people from the Duke of Edinburgh scheme have made the effort to contact me over the last few days.'

Miss Jenny said she had been an assessor for the Duke of Edinburgh scheme countrywide and had met young people from all over the UK and abroad who had chosen to do their gold expeditions on Dartmoor.

Having had no children of her own, Miss Jenny said she spent her life looking after other people's children but she could 'always hand them back'.