THE founder of a Hereford charity has been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, but said the MBE was as much for the charity's volunteers as it was for him.

Rob Thomas, who established a charity in 2012 which helps the homeless and more vulnerable members of society, was awarded the MBE for his outstanding service to the community in Herefordshire during the first-wave of coronavirus.

CEO of Vennture Mr Thomas said it came as a "massive surprise and it was completely unexpected" that his work for the charity was highlighted in the list.

The day Mr Thomas found out about the honour he had been at the hospital in Hereford helping someone.

"We'd been involved with the hospital, just helping someone out who'd attempted to take their own life.

"That had been my afternoon and I was absolutely emotionally exhausted when I got the news, it was a timely encouragement at the end of a very hard day.

"Completely unexpected, but it's a bit of a difficult one. The recognition is personal, but behind it is the massive efforts of literally hundreds of volunteers and people who have really done exceptional things in the Covid crisis."

Mr Thomas established Vennture in 2012 based on the philanthropic work John Venn, a 19th Century Vicar in Hereford and his sister Emilia Venn who formed the Hereford City Mission.

The charity has since set up the Lean-on-Me service which is supported by qualified volunteers as part of its street pastors service in Hereford’s night time economy.

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They care and support people who have become distressed or injured on nights out or need help to get home safely.

The charity's family pastors and youth mentor schemes support 150 vulnerable families, young people and individuals struggling with issues including unemployment, homelessness and hunger.

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit Herefordshire in March, Vennture has taken a different approach to sustaining services for its vulnerable clients.

Unlike some agencies and charities, it didn’t furlough staff and sought to work as the ‘fourth emergency service’ alongside statutory agencies.

Vennture formed a new response tier locally continuing to offer support when others were unable to meet need.

"Our vulnerable people, who might be struggling for whatever reason, we reckon there are around 4,000 of them in the county," he said.

"When Covid began, the first thing we did was persuade emergency planners the importance of thinking about that group.

"We spent a lot of time just working with how, with all the Covid restrictions, we could help and support that group of people."

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Work included a phone call 'buddy' system where the vulnerable could have someone to speak to, as well as helping homeless people housed in hotels by Herefordshire Council.

"The council did an absolutely fantastic job of making sure there was nobody on the streets or sofa surfing, but just having people into a house isn't enough," Mr Thomas said.

"Again, the phone buddies would phone them. We had other volunteers doing medical checks on them to make sure they were safe from the virus, and to make sure if they were found unconscious they would have a card on them which would give the emergency services a medical history.

"We worked hard to just keep on supporting the many struggling and troubled families and individuals and young people we support normally.

"It's a challenging job at the best of times, but with the all the Covid complexity, that added a layer of challenge that none of us had faced before.

"I feel a little bit embarrassed in the sense that all I did was lead the team, the people who really did a lot for the frontline work showed extraordinary courage.

"People still went out in the midst of the virus to support vulnerable people."

Sam Pratley, chair of Vennture: “I am thrilled to see Rob receive this honour. It is recognition of his hard work over the last eight years.

"His quick response at the start of this pandemic to put in place solutions to support the needs of vulnerable people and families, in particular the homeless and those needing social care support in Herefordshire are the reason he has been awarded this MBE.

“He demonstrates very clear biblical leadership qualities, a determination to show love for all human beings, a commitment to using local volunteers and an extraordinary ability to speak truth to power.

"I have repeatedly witnessed him bring together leaders from across this county for the common good achieving solutions that many consider insurmountable.”