Following the announcement of the Queen's New Year Honours and Dorchester's Les Fry receiving a BEM, the friend who nominated him explains what inspired her.

Words are limited on the nomination form, so Lorraine Wong wanted to share why she nominated well-known and popular figure, Les.

"I have been friends with Les, Julie [his wife] and their family since I joined Rotary in 2009 when Les was the Police Inspector for Dorchester and Sherborne and was soon in awe of his drive, energy and commitment to the community," she said. "He appeared to get 30 - enthusiastic - hours out of a 24-hour day.

"His wife, Julie, often joked that a quick pop into town would be at least an hour as Les would stop to talk with everyone and anyone and was very adept at extracting life stories in the first 10 minutes - perhaps that was his police interrogation training? However he developed the skill, he uses it to great affect and I think that this is the essence of Les. He likes people. He is interested in people. And through talking with people, he understands what is important to them and the community we love in.

"It wasn't long before I started pondering, 'why hasn't this man got a medal?' and in speaking with fellow Rotarians and other local public figures who work closely with Les, soon realised that it was not through lack of effort. I am therefore delighted that Les' contribution to our community has finally been recognised through this year's Honours."

Lorraine said this recognition is "very well-deserved and long overdue", particularly as it focuses on his voluntary work.

She added: "Julie Fry once told me that her early school reports were peppered with observations about paying attention whereas Les' listed all the events, fundraisers and projects he had initiated, so his propensity to get immersed in his community started early and is therefore impossible to adequately express in the 500 words for an Honours' nomination."

Les has been involved with so many community groups and projects, including:

• Dorchester skate park
• Dorchester Beerex
• Dorchester Youth and Community Centre
• The establishment of One World Multiculrtural Festival following a racist attack in Dorchester
• Rotary Christmas draw
• Rotary small grants scheme
• The establishment of The Prince of Wales School's PTA
• Kingston Maurward 'Farmwatch'
• Dorchester Great Field parkrun
• Dorchester Disabled cycle Ride
• Dorchester carnival
• Computer recycling for young people both in Dorset and Kenya
• The Dorchester marathon
• Covid-19 volunteer response force

Lorraine said: "As a Rotarian, Les regards his 'community' as anywhere that needs help and assistance and to this end, he and Julie have actively been involved in projects in Kenya to promote education, particularly for young girls. This has involved very practical actions like assisting in the building of school rooms and housing. "Congratulations Les and many thanks to Julie and their boys for sharing him with us all." 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.