A SOLDIER who has striven to make his regiment part of the Amesbury community has been presented with an award recognising his efforts.

Lieutenant Colonel Craig Palmer of 32 Regiment has been honoured with a Mayor’s Award for the work he has done in the town.

His efforts began at the regiment’s homecoming parade in November 2011 when he became aware of the Amesbury 2012 campaign and the town council’s desire to bring the community together in the run-up to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics.

Since then the regiment, under his leadership, has supported events and initiatives including the Christmas Lantern procession, St George’s Day celebrations, and the Amesbury 2012 fun run around Stonehenge.

They were also involved in the fundraising campaign for the town’s museum and undertook the very first fundraising campaign for the project by walking to the Preseli Mountain ranges over five days to procure a blue stone for the gardens.

And the regiment provided the logistics and manpower needed to move the huge Ancestor sculpture to Salisbury to represent Amesbury as the Olympic torch arrived.

Just a few weeks ago, Lt Col Palmer arranged for six young soldiers to help with Amesbury’s archaeological dig and on the very last day, one of his men washed probably the oldest and finest flint blade found to date in Southern Britain, possibly dating from the Ice Age.

A council spokesman said: “When considering the Mayor’s Award for 2013-14 it was not difficult to for the council to agree who deserved it most.”