Coronation Champion Award for Aylesbury Vale charity volunteer

A volunteer for a local assistance dog charity has been awarded a Coronation Champion award.

Dave Barber, aged 53, volunteers his time to help Great Horwood-based Medical Detection Dogs, which trains dogs to use their superhuman sense of smell to detect the odour of diseases, including cancer.

Dave is one of 500 volunteers, out of thousands of nominations from across the UK, to receive an award celebrating the contribution of volunteers to their communities, as part of an official Coronation project launched by Royal Voluntary Service (RVS). The winners were chosen by a judging panel headed by the Queen Consort.

Dave, a retired RAF pharmacy technician, originally joined Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) to advise the project manager on an IT upgrade task. He now provides about 90 hours of support a month – including using his contacts to help the charity source good deals on hardware, installing equipment and being at the end of the phone to provide IT support.

Dave, who lives in Chesham, said: “I feel very honoured and pleased to be chosen out of all the other people that were put forward for the awards.

“I love volunteering for MDD and have really enjoyed the last 18 months – it gives me a great purpose. The role involves two things I love - dogs and computers!”

Volunteer manager Claire Baker said: “Volunteers like Dave are invaluable and we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them.

“We love the days that Dave is at our training centre, as he always has a smile on his face and is a real part of the MDD family. He has transformed our IT infrastructure and has patiently ensured that every staff member understands how to maximise it.

“Dave can also often be found with a four-legged assistant, as he often helps us out with holiday cover and the dogs adore him as much as we do.

“We are thrilled that Dave has won this award and it is much deserved.”

As well as volunteering at MDD, Dave also gives his time to help two primary schools with their IT.