THE British Heart Foundation (BHF) gave recognition to a number of Tavistock volunteers for their long-service and outstanding commitment to the charity by presenting them with a number of awards.

Staff from the BHF community fundraising South West team went to meet the volunteer branch of Tavistock recently to present three long service awards to outstanding members of the Tavistock community who have given more than 30 years’ service to help support the BHF foundation in its goal to beat cardiovascular disease.

The evening recognised the long service and commitment of volunteers Kris Budge, Gwyn Lawler and Pearl Pearson. The group has raised in excess of £300,000 for the BHF since it was founded in 1980.

Joy Petley, the local fundraising manager for Devon and Cornwall, presented the awards alongside her manager Pete Tarrant, to recognise the service and commitment of the Tavistock BHF voluntary branch.

A special award was also presented to Kris Budge, who won the South West volunteer of the year award, nominated for her continuing commitment and inspiring work in support of the BHF.

Kris Budge, chair of the Tavistock branch, said: ‘It is an honour to receive this award and I do so on behalf of the Tavistock committee. It has been my pleasure to meet and work with some inspirational people over the years that the Tavistock branch has been in existence.’

Joy Petley, BHF fundraising manager for Devon and Cornwall, said: ‘It is really important to recognise pillars of the community like the Tavistock branch members. They all work tremendously hard together to put on fun events for the community that help to keep the community spirit alive, whilst supporting a very important charity, working to fight for every heart beat.

‘We urgently need more people to join our fight for every heart beat and help power our life-saving research. If you would like to get involved with a group, or are interested in setting up your own fundraising group to help support our vital work then please contact [email protected].’