A FORMER Chief Constable of North Yorkshire has received a Trustee award from the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) in recognition of his efforts and contributions to the charity.

David Burke, from Bedale, has been chairman of his local committee for eight years and heavily involved with organising charity fundraising events around the region.

Sally Conner, RABI regional manager for the North East, said: "We are delighted that David has received a Trustee’s award – he has been a true friend as well as chairman of the North Yorkshire committee and I can’t thank him and his wife Betty enough for all the help and support over the last eight years."

Mr Burke collected the award from Minette Batters, NFU deputy president, at RABI’s annual meeting.

The meeting also saw Jeannette Dawson, principal and chief executive of the Bishop Burton College Group in Beverley, and Jo Turnbull, a law graduate who runs a 60 acre farm in County Durham with her husband, elected trustees of RABI.

Mrs Turnbull is also chairman of County Durham and Darlington Priority Services Trust which provides a mental health and learning disability service, a lay member of The British Veterinary Association Ethics Committee and a member of The Farmers Club.

RABI is a grant-making charity which helps farming people of all ages if they are in financial difficulty. It gave £1.93m in grants in 2014 and helped people claim £378,000 in state benefits. Support ranges from helping people to pay utility bills and council tax arrears, rent and bankruptcy fees, to paying for funerals, heating, clothing and even food.

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