MINEHEAD resident Sue Shapland officially received her long-awaited British Empire Medal (BEM) at her 80th birthday party - in recognition of her work to facilitate global adventures for the elderly.

Mrs Shapland’s BEM nomination was announced in June of last year for the King’s Birthday Honours, but it was only last week that Sue officially received the award, at her 80th birthday party held at Oak Manor Golf Club.

Around 130 members of the activity and holiday group, Exmoor Extroverts, gathered at the club on January 9 to celebrate the 80th birthday of their friend. Little did they know they would also be witnessing Sue’s BEM investiture.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset Mohammad Saddiq and Deputy Lieutenant Mrs Jane Sedgemoor JP DL joined as special guests to present the award and congratulate Mrs Shapland on her success.

Sue said: “I feel very honoured, but really there would be no ‘Extroverts’ if they weren't there, too. I said at (my birthday) lunch that I accepted it on their behalf, and they all had a share in it too.”

Mrs Shapland set up the Exmoor Extroverts group in 1999 after friends asked her to arrange a group trip to a performance of Phantom of the Opera, in Bristol.

The outing was such a success that Sue took it upon herself to arrange trips on a regular basis and over the past 25 years she has she continued organising between eight and ten overseas holidays and more than 20 day trips annually.

Over the course of its existence, the Exmoor Extroverts has facilitated trips and holidays for more than 1,000 people to destinations including Canada, Alaska, New Zealand and Vietnam, to name a few.

Catering for the older generations around Exmoor, the group now has between 700 and 800 members, the eldest of whom is a woman aged 95 who went on six trips with the group in the past year.

It was members of the beloved adventure group who nominated Sue for the BEM, an award bestowed upon those who have provided meritorious service to the community.

Sue discovered her nomination with her daughter. “I looked at this brown envelope with OHMS on it and I said, do you think it's a parking ticket or a speeding fine?” Sue said.

“When I opened it and the two of us read the first line and our mouths just fell open.”

Now, as Sue enters her 81st year, the founder and traveller is seeking a replacement volunteer convenor to take over her essential work supporting the older Exmoor residents.

Sue added: “I get a huge amount of pleasure from giving other people pleasure and I'm under a lot of pressure to continue to keep doing it.

“I want somebody to help me. It would be tragic for this whole thing to fold up because it really is providing a service.

“There are so many single people and you know, it's not much fun going on holiday on your own. It's much more fun when you can share it with somebody else.”