THE proud leader of a charity that has helped thousands of young people has received the royal seal of approval.

Hayley Lovett, chief executive of Harwich Teen Talk, was stunned to receive a letter telling her she would be receiving the British Empire Medal.

She has been put forward for the commendation as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Teen Talk offers a drop-in service to young people, allowing them to talk to someone about problems in their lives.

Hayley said: “I was surprised and very taken aback when I found out.

I would like to stress this is not something I have done on my own, I have a whole team of massively hard-working people behind me.

“It has been a bit awkward as I haven’t been able to say anything to them for the past month – but this is a collaboration and an award for the whole team to share.”

The citation for the medal said Hayley had gone “beyond the call of duty” to help young people.

It added:“About 1,000 young people drop into Teen Talk each year and it has grown to be a very significant aspect of the community.

“She dedicates vast amounts of herpersonal time to achieve this.”

Hayley said Teen Talk had tripled in size in the past five years.

She said: “In one way I am surprised at how it has grown, in another I am not because there are so many young people trying to access our service.

“I think the issues of mental health in young people are changing.

"It used to be things like homelessness and pregnancy, now there are a lot of problems with anxiety, depression, suicide and attempted suicide.

"The thing we all get out of it is the reward of a young person coming in and turning themselves around – often it just takes us supporting them.”

Trevor Gilbert, an employment expert, of Dedham, has been awarded an OBE for his efforts in helping disabled people get into work.

He received a British Citizens Award earlier this year, but was delighted to get another honour.

He said: “It is staggering, I thought the Citizens Award would be on top of my CV for a long time, but I can barely find words for this.

“It is just an incredible honour, especially on the Queen’s 90th.”