AN OXFORDSHIRE pensioner is to be recognised with a British Citizen Award Medal of Honour after his wife passed away.

Joseph Craven, 94 from Berrick Salome near Wallingford is being honoured for his services to the community.

The British Citizen Award was established in 2015, to recognise exceptional individuals who work tirelessly and selflessly making a positive impact on society.

When Mr Craven’s wife Muriel became ill with Alzheimer’s disease he began to take her to Millstream day centre in Benson for lunch, primarily to socialise and keep her active.

As her health declined and she went into care and he continued to go to the day centre.

However, Mr Craven was not attending as a diner, but as a volunteer to help in the kitchen.

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For the past 13 years Mr Craven has volunteered three times a week dedicating his time to making a difference in his community.

He was there for the villagers that needed the day centre for company, a sense of belonging and a decent meal.

In 2010 his wife died, and Mr Craven continued to volunteer at the day centre eventually making him the oldest diner and volunteer.

His daughter Rachel Craven nominated her dad for the British Citizen Award.

She said: “It was a lovely, we couldn’t quite believe it.

“We were extremely proud because I applied for it on his behalf because he has worked tirelessly there all those years.

“In the application I said he treated it just like a job and he used to fit holidays around his voluntary role.”

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In the nomination the Millstream day centre is described as being a lifeline for people in the village.

The day centre is currently closed because all the customers are over the age of 70 and have to self-isolate.

The centre, however, is now the location of the Benson Help Hub - a collaboration between the Centre, the Patients’ Panel, the Benson Helpline, and the Benson and Ewelme churches.

The hub is offering a hot two-course meal three times a week as well as help with shopping and prescription collections for people who would usually attend the day centre.

Ms Craven said: “He was fantastic and he would still be there now if it weren’t for the pandemic because it is a vulnerable age group, they have not been able to reopen.”

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She added: “It is incredible he has got the energy for it. He used to work in the kitchen, but not as a chef. He used to sort the pans out and make sure the kitchen was nice and clean.

“He loved doing it, he got on very well with the chef Patrick and he was a good working colleague. He really enjoyed it otherwise I am sure he would not have carried on for all those years.”

Mr Craven originally started attending with his wife Muriel. Ms Craven added: “They used to go along to get out because she had Alzheimer’s, so he started off as a customer and then she went into a nursing home and he carried on going but this time as a volunteer. He stopped being a customer and started working there.”

Due to the pandemic some aspects of the ceremony will be different. The physical Medal Presentation Ceremony has been temporarily postponed and the provisional revised date for the official medal presentation is October 22, 2020.

The event will be hosted by TV’s Tim Vincent, with BCA Patron’s Lord Dholakia and Dame Mary Perkins, co-founder of Specsavers also in attendance.

Medals will be presented by senior figures from the sponsor community which includes Experian, Places for People, Objective HR, alongside Specsavers and One Stop.