A FRIAR from Dorset has received a prestigious award from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Brother Samuel - a Franciscan friar based at Hilfield, outside Sherborne - has been given the Dunstan Award for Prayer and the Religious Life as part of The Lambeth Awards.

The annual awards aim to recognise outstanding service in various fields and also saw Chrysogon Bamber, from Figheldean, given the Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness.

They will receive the awards, made from Fairtrade silver by the London firm Cred Jewellery, from the Archbishop during a ceremony at Lambeth Palace on Thursday (March 31).

Brother Samuel SSF is Guardian at the idyllic Hilfield Friary, and has been a Franciscan friar for 42 years. Previously he has served in Liverpool, Manchester, Cambridge, Zimbabwe and the Solomon Islands.

He has been Novice Guardian for the European Province of the Anglican Franciscans, Guardian of various Franciscan Houses, as well as Minister Provincial - head of the Anglican Franciscans in the UK.

He said: “I burst out laughing when I received the award – what have I done to deserve this? But I’m honoured to receive it as a sign of Archbishop Justin’s commitment to the life of prayer in the church and the renewal of religious community life.”

Over the last 10 years he has been involved in the life and work of Hilfield Friary - now a mixed community of professed religious brothers and lay men and women, young and old, married and single. The focus of the Friary has particularly been to live in an ecologically sustainable way following St Francis’s vision of creation, and to share something of that wisdom with those who come and visit.

The Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury, added: “I was delighted to hear this news. Chrysogon and Samuel are worthy recipients of the awards, reflecting a life of dedication to their neighbours, their Lord Jesus Christ, and His Church.”

Archbishop Justin Welby said: “It will be a huge honour and joy to confer these awards upon such an extraordinary and diverse group of people. The recipients come from many walks of life and many parts of the world, but all have served in their fields with distinction and self-sacrificial service, going beyond the call of duty.

“I hope and pray that the ceremony on March 31 will be an opportunity for us to honour them and give thanks to God for their gifts, which have been such a blessing to the church and to the world.”