A CEREMONY recognising the efforts of volunteers in Darlington was touched with sadness yesterday following the death of a veteran British Red Cross helper.

Violet Harrison, 83, spent 22 years working as a volunteer at the charity's store in the town where she had lived for about 30 years, but she recently returned to Wales, where her family lives, to recuperate after a long illness, and died on Thursday.

As well as working in the shop, Mrs Harrison, a widower, was a first aider.

Chris Henderson, the shop's manager, said: "We are thankful for all her first aid duties and those duties in the shop. We will all miss her, it was just wonderful having her working here."

A second volunteer, Joan Foster, who has notched up 23 years of service for the shop, was unable to attend the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer awards ceremony at All Saints Millennium Centre, Ravensdale Road, because of illness.

Darlington MP Alan Milburn presented the awards, to mark contributions from older people, to another six Red Cross volunteers.

Norma Carr, Audrey Turnbull, Dorothy Brown, Sylvia Beadle, May Sennett and Anne Jeffcutt have served between three and 38 years each.

Also recognised were Ron Porter and Hazel Barrett, who have spent two years each with First Stop, and Marian Lowis and Yve Sellers, who have volunteered for 15 years each with the orthopaedic outpatient department at Darlington Memorial Hospital and with Darlington Mind, respectively.

Mr Milburn said: "Older volunteers in Darlington do a brilliant job for the local community. This is a small recognition of the huge contribution they make.