GROUP of volunteers from Winchester who have been giving up their time for more than 40 years to help families living with devastating muscle-wasting conditions have been praised for their “tireless commitment” to others.

Thelma Finnegan, Barbara Anderson, Janette and Jim Hull, Marion and Alan Richmond, Wendy Ling and Pamela Wheeler all volunteer for the Winchester branch of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, which has raised over £250,000 since its formation.

The group were thanked in person for their efforts by the charity’s president, BBC broadcaster Sue Barker, at a Westminster reception.

They were among 100 volunteers invited to the event in Parliament during National Volunteers’ Week, to be thanked personally for their support.

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s band of around 1,400 volunteers across the UK help the charity to raise close to a quarter of its annual income.