A dedicated choir member has been given an award for making an outstanding contribution to music in the community.

The Lady Hilary Groves Prize awarded by Making Music, the association of amateur and semi-professional musicians, went to Julia O’Connor-Beach, secretary of the Tyndale Choral Society.

The award was in recognition of her work setting up the Absolute Beginners Class in Dursley for people in the area wanting to learn how to sing with a choir.

The judges’ report said: It is no exaggeration to say that in the three years Julia has been secretary, by sheer energy, effort and enthusiasm, she has transformed the society. Most importantly to her winning the Lady Hilary Groves Prize is her commitment to encouraging those who have never sung before. After persuading the society to support the initiative, she engaged a tutor, organised publicity and recruited existing society members as mentors. An amazing 24 new recruits made it through the course and are now singing with the society.