A Dorchester councillor has been recognised in the Queen's New Year Honours for all his work in the community.

Retired police officer Les Fry has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for voluntary service to the community in Dorchester and West Dorset.

He is very honoured to be awarded a BEM and is very grateful to his supportive wife, Julie, who is understanding and tolerant of all his meetings and extra time spent on community work.

Mr Fry said: "I am humbled by the nomination and the award and it's nice to be recognised, but when you do community work, you don't expect this sort of thing and I enjoy doing it because it's my hobby in a way.

"It's so nice when you're working with the youth club, helping young people make a difference to their lives, raising money, every grant I achieve or raise goes towards helping young people make a difference to their lives, and we all know young people are the future.

"I enjoy working with young people, helping organisations to make a difference."

He is a Dorset councillor and a Dorchester town councillor and sits on the Dorset Police and Crime Panel.

Mr Fry retired as a Dorset Police Inspector in April 2018, having completed almost 28 years' service. He was the neighbourhood Inspector for Dorchester and Sherborne between 2003 and 2013. With his background in farming, he had previously been responsible for rural crime.

Following a serious racial crime in Dorchester, Mr Fry was part of a small team creating the One World Multicultural Festival that took place for several years.

He has been connected with Dorchester Youth and Community Centre, firstly as a member of the management committee and currently as a trustee, helping raise almost £60,000 over the past two years, and is a member of Dorchester Beerex, which has raised £19,000 for local good causes.

Mr Fry has also been an active member of the Rotary Club of Dorchester Casterbridge since 2006, being president in 2017-18 and due to be president again in 2022. He is chairman of the Rotary's Christmas draw, helping to raise more than £30,000 for local causes over the past three years.

He was also part of the organising team for the Dorchester marathon and half marathon in 2017 and 2018 and has been a member of the Great Field parkrun core team, working for more than two years to set it up.

Mr Fry was also one of three who set up and ran the Dorchester Community Support Group to help the community during lockdown. The group recruited around 35 volunteers. As well as this, he helped set up the volunteer team to help with the delivery of vaccinations at the Atrium Health Centre.

He has volunteered in Kenya, helping schools and communities in remote areas, walked the Jurassic Coast Path to raise money for Prostate Cancer and enabled Dorchester carnival to go ahead in 2015 - 2016 before others took it over.

Mr Fry was a member of Dorchester Rugby Club, former chairman of the junior section and senior club committee member for many years, being awarded club man of the year in 2011.

As a keen supporter of young people, Mr Fry was instrumental in creating the Dorchester skate park and has also been involved in the creation of skate parks in Crossways and Sherborne. Using the skills and knowledge gained with the reduction of crime/ASB when skate parks were built, he became a point of contact for other skate parks across the country.

He has also run and completed three London marathons to raise money for MND and Julia's House, with a best time of four hours and 38 minutes.

Former Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Underhill has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours for services to mental health awareness and support.

Others in Dorset to be recognised include:

• Dr David Stuart Edwards has been awarded an OBE for services to adult and further education

• Nicholas Edward Gils has been awarded an OBE for services to health and the nation

• Hannah Mills MBE has been awarded an OBE for services to sailing and the environment

• Stuart Bithell has been awarded an MBE for services to sailing

• Dylan James Fletcher-Scott has been awarded an MBE for services to sailing

• Geoffrey Hardwicke has been awarded an MBE for services to hydrometry

• Patricia Ann Marchiori has been awarded an MBE for services to education

• Susan Jabeena Maslin has been awarded an MBE for services to modern pentathlon

• Edith Jane McIntyre has been awarded an MBE for services to sailing

• Samantha Claire Richardson has been awarded an MBE for services to coastal tourism in England during Covid-19

• David Smith has been awarded an MBE for services to libraries

• Marion Elizabeth Maidment has been awarded a BEM for services to education

• Jenifer Denise Seys has been awarded a BEM for services to people with disabilities and to the community in Weymouth

• Mark Douglas Ashley Strachan has been awarded a BEM for charitable services to musicians during Covid-19 Don't forget to sign up to our newsletter below! You can submit your own news straight to Dorchester Nub News by using the 'Nub It' button on our home page. This can also be done for events on our What's On page and businesses, groups and organisations on our Local Listings page , also by using the 'Nub It' button. Please like and follow our online newspaper on your favourite social media channel. You can find us @DorchesterNubNews on Facebook and @DorchesterNub Twitter.