BUDE’S Margaret Frost has been awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to charity and the community in the town.

The 78-year-old was rewarded for her sustained services to her local community and total commitment to Bude in the New Year’s Honours list.

She has been running her Rustic Tea Gardens since 1963, while consistently raising funds on behalf of various charitable organisations such as the Royal British Legion.

She was awarded Bude Citizen of the Year in 2011 and for the last three years she has been president of the Bude Carnival Committee.

She was instrumental in securing a holiday let, covering the cost by obtaining donations from local businesses, to provide a holiday for severely injured ex-servicemen to come to Bude to experience surfing for the first time as part of their rehabilitation.

She has set up a collection in local shops and public houses for donations to help those who endured weeks of flooding on the Somerset Levels, generating £680. Over the years, she has raised tens of thousands of pounds to support the self-funding Bude Town Band Committee. She is also one of the strongest supporters of a local rotary club that has undertaken many charitable and community projects.

Reflecting on the news, Margaret admitted to being ‘shocked’.

She said: “I feel incredibly shocked, very honoured and a little bit of a cheat because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve done.

“I found out a few weeks ago. I got a letter through in the post and it said from the cabinet. I thought, what on earth is this? And then I opened it and couldn’t believe it. Even though you’re not allowed to tell anyone I immediately called my daughter Michele but we’ve been able to keep quiet, even if it has been hard.”

Although Margaret has done a phenomenal amount of charity work around the town, she is best known for her Margaret’s Rustic Tea Garden, which is situated at Northcott Mouth.

However, even at the age of 78, she has no plans of slowing down.

She said: “My mum started the tea garden in 1963 and I’ve worked there since it started. Although she died 12 years ago, I’ve continued to run it and I plan on doing it for as long as I can as well as all my charity work in the town. I still feel fit and healthy.”

Margaret is one of the most well known people in Bude and admits that she just can’t get enough of the place. Since the announcement that she has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list, Margaret said she has been overwhelmed with people’s messages of congratulations and support. She will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in the summer.

She said: “The town of Bude means everything to me, it’s a wonderful place. If you live somewhere all your life then you want to give something back to it and put a dot on the map.”

It’s safe to say, she’s certainly done that.

l Callington’s Terry Bolt also received a British Empire Medal for his services to the community across the whole of Cornwall.

The 80-year-old volunteers for several organisations, primarily giving his time up to help and assist the elderly improve their quality of life.

His volunteering includes working as a Welcome Home volunteer for Volunteer Cornwall, visiting patients after they have been discharged from hospital and undertaking a basic check, assessing their needs and referring or signposting them on to the appropriate services to help keep them out of hospital and get them back on their feet.

He is also a Living Well volunteer for Age UK Cornwall. He has set up a men’s lunch group, known affectionately as Blokes that Brunch, once a week in a pub that brings socially isolated men together.

He will facilitate this social event making sure everyone feels included and ensures they have a fun time.

As a walk leader for nine years with the Tavistock-based Walk & Talk group, he helped set up a similar one based in the Tamar Valley which assists people who are socially isolated with mobility issues to walk around the Tamar Valley, meet others and get valuable exercise whilst taking in breath taking views.

He has enabled so many elderly people to get to places and do things that they no longer believed they could do but he has given them the belief that if they want to, they can do.