A COMMUNITY stalwart with decades of voluntary service under his belt has become the first person to be awarded the freedom of Ringwood.

At a special meeting of the town council, members unanimously granted the first title of Honorary Freeman of Ringwood to Cllr Neville Chard.

The title was granted under new powers which have recently been made available to local councils.

Cllr Chard served on New Forest District Council for 15 years, as a town councillor for 40 years and as secretary of the Bisterne Football Club for 53 years.

Cllr Jeremy Heron nominated Cllr Chard, saying: “The council has felt for some years that there ought to be a legal provision to allow town and parish councils to grant some form of honorary status to those individuals who have made an immense contribution to the town or community.

“We tried to get other councils interested in making these awards. But our proposals did not appear to have received much support nationally and we thought that that was the end of the matter.

“We were surprised and delighted when, earlier this year, we were advised that we would now have the authority to grant the title of Honorary Freeman or Honorary Freewoman to people who had given long and meritorious service to the community.

“Amongst us we have one such person. I am delighted to formally propose that Cllr Neville James Chard be the first person to be awarded the title of Honorary Freeman of Ringwood Town.”

Cllr Chard said: “It is a great honour for me to be the first person to accept the privilege of being awarded the title of Honorary Freeman of Ringwood.”

He thanked his partner Jenny, his son, family and friends for their support and said he was very moved that members of both Bisterne Football Club and Ringwood Town Football Club had attended the ceremony.

He added: “I am very proud to be known as the ‘father’ of the Council.

“When I first started playing football for Bisterne in 1948, I never imagined that 63 years later, I would still be involved with the club. Nor did I imagine that when I became a councillor, I would still be one 40 years later.”