VOLUNTEERS from across Purbeck have been honoured at a special ceremony.

Seventeen towns and villages nominated volunteers who have contributed to community wellbeing.

The individuals were presented with certificates at the Purbeck District Council (PDC) event, hosted by the authority's chairman Cllr Bill Trite.

This was the 11th Purbeck District Volunteers of the Year ceremony.

Cllr Trite told them: "Sure enough, it has been another year during which volunteering has become yet more important for keeping the fabric of our society together, for helping those in greatest need, and for maintaining the quality of local life.

"It is my privilege to thank you for what you do in Purbeck, and through you to thank all Purbeck volunteers whom you are, in effect, representing.

"You are the deserving tip of what is - thankfully - a proverbial iceberg. Thank you for the difference you make."

Cllr Trite says the total value of volunteering in England varies between £23bn and £46bn.

"That's a big variance," he said. "But even if the lowest estimate were the reality, it is still a huge figure which wouldn't be made up by any other means. And the highest rate of volunteering in England is to be found in the south west.”

He also said that volunteers are" critical to filling the gap between individual and community resources on the one hand, and those provided by the state –central and local government ­— on the other."

With the new unitary council set to take over from PDC next month, Cllr Trite said: "I and my colleagues have put down the marker that we want to see this recognition of volunteers continued next year and thereafter, even if Westport House ceases to be used for local government purposes.

"I promise you that the new Dorset Council will be made to see the value of what has been done here in Purbeck, because it should rightly be extended to other areas rather than be allowed to lapse."