A GROUP near Tenbury led by Paddy Brennan has now been presented with the highest award for voluntary service.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest honour that can be given for voluntary service and is the MBE for voluntary groups.

Paddy Brennan, the man behind Tenbury Boxing Club that is now the Paddy Brennan Boxing Academy and Fitness Centre, collected the award at the venue just outside Tenbury.

He has developed the group beyond a boxing club to a community organisation that provides training and support for vulnerable young people.

The citation praises the ‘exceptional leadership’ from Mr Brennan and his ‘excellent team of volunteers'.

It continues: "The Boxing Club is an exceptional organisation which has a total community focus. It provides training, personal development and support to more than 300 local people from a wide variety of ages, backgrounds and abilities who reside in the local area.

"This is delivered through the medium of boxing and personalised fitness and health and wellbeing programmes. It is very inclusive in terms of diversity and people's backgrounds, gender, ethnicity and disabilities.’

The centre provides confidence building and self-defence training for women referred from the Rape Crisis Centre.

In addition The Women's Institute also attend self-defence classes, and there are a range of health and wellbeing activities available at the club.

It also provides programmes geared for those young people who are not in education and training (NEETS), and those who are at risk of offending.

Some of the activities available include: literacy and numeracy, business and administration, construction, animal care, horticulture and sport and leisure.

It also has developed a unique rehabilitation and fitness centre, where sport and fitness is used as a medium to achieve psychological and physical wellbeing, which increases self-esteem and confidence that can be transferred to other areas of the person's life.

People with a range of conditions have been helped and supported. They include those who have had a stroke, have multiple sclerosis, have acquired brain injuries, are autistic, suffer from dementia, require cardiac rehabilitation or suffer with obesity.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their communities. The awards were created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

Caption: Paddy Brennon receives the award from the Lord Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Holcroft with Sir Anthony Winnington High Sheriff of Worcester (right)