VOLUNTEERS who have given years of time to a Basingstoke charity will be awarded at a special ceremony.

Lady Louis Portal, High Sheriff of Hampshire, will present the awards to four volunteers from Shopmobility Basingstoke at the charity's annual general meeting tomorrow. 

Roy Hazzard is one of those receiving an award having volunteered for more than 15 years, after his wife, Sheila, set up Shopmobility.

Sheila spoke to the mayor at the time, Chris Evans, in 1990 about starting the scheme in Basingstoke.

Mr Evans, who has been chair of Shopmobility for 20 years and is now president, formed a working party and Shopmobility opened in December 1997.

Now 85, Roy is retiring from his volunteering duties having helped out in the garage cleaning the scooters and wheelchairs, making repairs and training customers, between January 1998 and the end of 2014.

Others set to receive an award are Fiona Trist for five years of service and Joan Galloway and Dorothy Peace who are both retiring after more than 15 years volunteering.

Those at the AGM, which starts at 5.30pm at Shopmobility Basingstoke, in Church Street, will hear how the charity benefits people in the town.

During the last year, 1,129 people have used the service, taking out 7,135 pieces of equipment in the town centre, and 1,469 outside of the town centre, such as for holidays, days out and appointments.

A total of 26 volunteers have given approximately 5,408 hours to the charity, with seven volunteering for more than 15 years.

Anne Blackmore, manager of Shopmobility Basingstoke, said: "It is extremely rewarding to be the manager of a service making such a recognisable difference to people's lives. Shopmobility customers do not only come into town to go shopping, they go to the bank, post office, doctors, dentist, solicitor, cinema, library, meet friends for lunch etcetera.

"The Shopmobility service enables more people to do more of the things most people take for granted when they want to. This impacts on their general health and wellbeing. I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful, dedicated team of volunteers to make the service viable."