An enthusiastic Ravenshead volunteer received an award from The Princess Royal for his dedication to sailing.

Charles Ferrar was among those honoured at a Royal Yachting Association Volunteer Awards ceremony in London.

Charles has been an active member of Notts County Sailing Club, Hoveringham, since 2002 and received an RYA Community Award for Lifetime Commitment.

Qualifying as an RYA senior instructor a year after joining, he has given many hours of his time teaching and was the club’s training principal from 2013 until November 2021.

Having led numerous assistant instructor courses, many young people who Charles taught are now fully-qualified instructors themselves and contributing to the continued success of the club.

His role has also seen him running taster sessions for local community groups, and developing a five-year plan that is now the blueprint for the future of training at the club.

Nominating Charles for the award, the club said: “Charles continues to assist the training section as a senior instructor on many of the club’s RYA training courses. His enthusiasm, especially when teaching newcomers, is infectious. He encourages and inspires instructors to deliver their best, and always has a smile on his face.”

Charles, who has a career background in civil engineering, said: “All the RYA training activities that I have been part of over the years have always been both enjoyable and rewarding. I feel I should actually be giving the RYA an award for making that possible.”

The RYA is boating’s national governing body and 48 RYA Volunteer Awards were presented to recipients from across the UK in recognition of their services to boating.

RYA chief executive Sara Sutcliffe said the commitment and dedication of this year’s RYA Volunteer Award recipients was outstanding.

“Each and every one of our award recipients has been an inspiration to us all and it is my great pleasure to recognise their contributions and achievements.”

To find out more about Notts County Sailing Club go to www.ncsc.org.uk