Volunteers at Dartmouth Caring have been rewarded for their hard work with free hotel accommodation.

Under a national ‘Room to Reward’ scheme the charity nominated two volunteers who’ve ‘gone the extra mile’. Sheila Phillips and Ben Cooper were each provided with a free stay at a hotel.

Nick Hindmarsh, Dartmouth Caring Manager, said: “Without people like Sheila and Ben our clients wouldn’t have had the support and care they needed over the past two years. I want to thank them but also all the amazing people who’ve volunteered for us.

“We all know there are many members of our community who’ve really stepped up over the past couple of years. We also know there are many amongst us who’ve silently contributed to our town and villages over many years.

“Choosing who to nominate is always a difficult task with so many to choose from but earlier this year we nominated Sheila and Ben, who’ve worked to support our clients over the past two years.”

Nick said Sheila is always ‘one of the first to put her hand up’ when asked to pick up a prescription from Lloyds or Boots and take it to a client. Since March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic, she’s delivered more than 100 prescriptions, and has become a familiar face in the chemists and to clients.

He said Ben has been consistently helping Anne, a Dartmouth Caring client, for the last two years.

He added: “Anne has been very isolated for health reasons for the past two years and worried about venturing out. Nearly two years ago Ben volunteered to do one shop for her, which involved collecting a shopping list and the money from her then dropping off the shop later in the day. Two years later and Ben is still doing this.

“Anne’s so very grateful to Ben for everything he does and the care and attention he’s shown. One example of the special connection they had was homemade lemon drizzle cake Ben’s mother made for her birthday.”

Room to Reward is a volunteer-recognition charity created to say ‘thank you’ to the ‘hidden heroes’ – inspirational volunteers who give up their time to make a difference to those who need it most.

Their partner hotels donate unsold rooms to charities and community groups for the heroes to take a break in.