DEREK Twine from Burley-in-Wharfedale was invited to attend the National Royal Maundy Service, this year held at Worcester Cathedral on Thursday, March 28.

Recipients of the Maundy Gifts of specially minted coins, personally given by HM The King and this year presented by HM The Queen, are chosen for their service to the community.

Mr Twine said that he was surprised and honoured to be one of this year’s recipients. “It’s very humbling that quiet work undertaken in the background should be recognised in this way,” he said.

Mr Twine has recently concluded ten years serving as Chair of Council at Bradford Cathedral and has now been appointed as a member of the Ripon Cathedral Consultative Council. He is also an Honorary Lay Canon in the Leeds Anglican Diocese, and an active member of All Saints Church, Ilkley.

Before retirement, Mr Twine was Chief Executive of the Scout Association. He has been Trustee and Vice-Chair of the Church Urban Fund, and a Member of the Council of the National Trust. In 2020 he was appointed by the Secretary of State to be a Member of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, where he is currently Deputy Chair. He was appointed as CBE by HM The Late Queen Elizabeth in 2007, and in 2012 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council of Voluntary Youth Services.

Mr Twine says that he seeks to follow the sentiment of the last message of the Founder of the Scouts, Robert Baden-Powell, who wrote “Try to leave this world a little better than you found it”.