A MAN of many talents feels 'truly humbled' to have received an award from the Royal Voluntary Service in recognition of his volunteering work.

Martyn Cooper, 61, from Reading, has been honoured in The Platinum Champion Awards, which were launched in honour of Her Majesty The Queen’s 70-year reign to celebrate outstanding volunteers across the UK.

From thousands of people nominated, 490 winners were hand-picked by a star-studded judging panel presided over by The Duchess of Cornwall.

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Martyn was crowned a ‘Platinum Champion’ in recognition of his involvement with a number of charities and organisations including Sue Ryder, Royal Berkshire Hospital Foundation Trust, Cancer Improvement Collaborative and Cancer Patient Partnership.

“I'm humbled and honoured, and very surprised," he said.

"I thoroughly enjoy what I do and don't consider that what I'm doing is extraordinary or special in any way. I am in awe of some volunteers who I work with who I think would be more worthy than myself.”

A former mental health and intensive care nurse, for more than three decades Martyn has been volunteering for the Festival Branch of Samaritans, attending festivals and events in his free time to provide a 24 hour, non-judgemental, face-to-face listening service.

He also founded ‘Fat Bloke Sevens’, a charity rugby match which is now run by Reading Abbey and has raised thousands of pounds for good causes over the last 20 years.   

Five year's ago Martyn’s life changed when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour the size of an orange.

It left him with disabilities and a life-limiting condition.

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"It left me with triplegia, which means that my left side is affected and I also have nerve damage to my right arm so I have no fine motor skills in that hand,” he said.

During his recovery he received care and support from Sue Ryder Duchess of Kent Hospice, attending its day services in Reading. 

He added: “I remember all the volunteers being so lovely, and I thought I would like to do that.

"So, for the last few years I have been volunteering at Sue Ryder’s day services unit in Newbury once a week.”

Sue Ryder Palliative Care Hub Berkshire, based in the Rosemary Centre at West Berkshire Community Hospital, supports people who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting condition socially with fun and interesting activities and groups.

Talking about volunteering for Sue Ryder, he said: “It reminds me how far I’ve come. I see where I was and recognise that I’m in a different place and that’s really helpful. It’s a nice feeling to just sit with the blokes and chat about nothing in particular!”

As a musician and trained clown performer, over the past few years Martyn has also focused on using his creative skills for the benefit of others in the community, regularly performing for free at local care homes and for charities. During the pandemic he led a group creating online variety shows, which was distributed nationally.

He said: “I used to play anything with strings, but I am limited now because of my right hand to guitar and ukulele. I would encourage anyone to do something musical, it’s so much fun. Because of my brain injury I can’t always remember the words, but I have a prompt in front of me.”

In the nomination for his Platinum Champion Award, Martyn’s friend Gillian Bates said: “Martyn simply brings joy to those he comes into contact with through his enthusiasm and constant smile. He has time for anyone and within minutes of meeting a complete stranger he has put them at their ease and they are chatting away like long lost friends.”