A community spirited teenager has gained a prestigious award for her work.

Elizabeth Mead, 17, has received the Diana Champion Volunteer Award in recognition of her outstanding commitment to both the community and Plume School.

For the last 2.5 years, Elizabeth has been a volunteer at the Friendship Group at Maldon Community Centre, which meets for two hours a week and caters for young people with special educational needs.

Elizabeth started lending a hand at the group as part of her silver Duke of Edinburgh award and then decided to stay on because she enjoyed it so much.

She said: “It’s a social group where we try and boost their confidence with cooking, arts and crafts.

“Originally I was quite bad at cooking, but I have improved.

“The people I work with there are fantastic and I have made friends with the members.”