INSPIRATIONAL people connected to Dorset disability charity Diverse Abilities Plus have been recognised for their efforts at a special awards event.

The Thank You Awards took place at Barnabas, the charity’s adult opportunities centre in Poole, with special guests children’s TV presenter Chris Jarvis, who gave out the awards, and Cherries legend Steve Fletcher.

Categories included Employee Lifetime Achievement, Corporate Supporter, Volunteer Team, Individual Volunteer of the Year, Outstanding Voluntary Contribution and Fundraiser of the Year.

Winners included 13-year-old Josh Faramus, who has autism and learning disabilities, but continues to fundraise for the charity which has supported him for ten years.

He received the award for “a child we support who’s achieved something remarkable”.

Lawrence Godfrey, who has been supported by the charity for more than 20 years, received the award for the “adult we support who’s achieved something remarkable” for losing two-and-a-half stone, while Tineke Knight received the Lifetime Achievement award after recently retiring from the charity where she worked at Langside School for more than 20 years.

Sandy Ranu received the Individual Volunteer of the Year award, after volunteering at 12 events during 2013, Hannah Fielding won the Individual Fundraiser of the Year award after raising £5,000 in a sponsored skydive for the charity, and Simon Shave, who is supported by Diverse Abilities Plus, received the Outstanding Voluntary Contribution award for his work volunteering.

Emma Wray, who supports Simon, was recognised as the “staff member who’s gone above and beyond”, while a volunteer team from Barclays and the team at Haskins were presented with corporate awards for their support of the charity.

Charlotte Curtis, the charity’s head of business resources, said: “We see the great job that our staff do day-in day-out, how committed our volunteers and supporters are to the charity and the achievements that the people we support accomplish and therefore wanted to express how thankful we are to them all for being such inspirational people.”