WEST Devon woman Sam Doel has won a volunteer award from the NSPCC thanks to the Tavistock Times Gazette.

Each year the newspaper encourages readers, advertisers and supporters to sponsor special baubles on the Christmas tree at The Wharf in Tavistock.

The money, with the proceeds from The Wharf coffee morning, goes towards the annual amount raised in a Festival of Christmas Trees in the area.

Sam, of Yelverton, chairman of the Plymouth and West Devon NSPCC for more than 20 years, has organised the annual Christmas tree festival at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal over that time. Businesses and organisations sponsor festive trees and garlands at the theatre and The Wharf to raise money for the children.

Before that Sam co-chaired and hosted a series of annual charity balls at Plymouth, two of which were attended by Princess Margaret, the then president of the charity, and other celebrities such as Wayne Sleep and Vicki Michelle.

Sam, who has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for the NSPCC and ChildLine, received her award as Event Volunteer of the Year for the South West and Channel Islands, at a lunch in London attended by Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and Esther Rantzen, along with other NSPCC volunteers and charity workers from all over the UK.

Peter Wanless, head of the NSPCC, told Sam: ‘Well done on your achievement. I hope you feel proud that your dedication and excellence in volunteering is recognised by your peers and colleagues.’