RESIDENTS have been recognised for their hard work and dedication to their communities.

Neil McCrone, 75, has been a member of the Harwich and Dovercourt Rotary Club for 11 years.

In that time he has held every position in the branch, from running litter picks to being club president. To honour that work, last week he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship Award.

“The fellowship award is for working hard and serving the community,” he said.

“You get nominated and a group of people get together and decide.

“It was at our charter night, there is always a bit of rotary business that is spoken about but then they suddenly said we have a bit of a surprise.

“They didn’t say who it was, there was a bit of an introduction and then the penny dropped. I was totally blown away.

“It was an unexpected thing, it’s not something I’ve ever thought about.”

Neil, a former civil engineer and maths teacher, joined the rotary club after retiring. He had previously been a member of the Harwich Roundtable and was part of the Harwich 41 Club at the time.

He has run the Sea Festival and Guy Carnival multiple times over the years but his favourite time was the year he was president.

“I had the most wonderful year as president.

“When Stephanie Tyrer was mayor she invited me to mayor-making and we threw the kitchels from the window – she will forever be in my thoughts.” Another resident has also been given a prestigious accolade for long service.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard:

Winner - Nigel Spencer

Former teacher at All Saints Primary School, in Dovercourt, Nigel Spencer, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Essex Teaching Awards earlier this year.

Nigel, who left the school at Christmas after a 41-year teaching career, said: “It was a total surprise to me that I had been nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It was a really pleasant way to finish a chapter in my life and round it off with this award.”

He said he is now preparing for future roles involved within the community.

In Great Oakley, fundraiser Pat Ling was presented with flowers at a charity garden party she had helped to organise.

She was thanked for her ongoing hard work over the years organising village events and raising money for various charities.