A local volunteer has been honoured for providing more than five decades of service to the Ayr branch of a well-known charity.

Enable Scotland have been running their Ayr and district branch from Sutherland House for the past 66 years.

For 53 of those years, Ian Holland has volunteered at the Prestwick Road venue working as a committee member, treasurer, the chairman and now as a trustee on the committee.

At the end of last year, the 77-year-old was recognised for his outstanding work at Enable Ayr, which provides services and support to people with learning difficulties and their families within the area.

The kind-hearted volunteer was named in the New Year Honours List - earning a British Empire Medal (BEM) for his services to people with learning difficulties in Ayr and Prestwick.

It was the culmination of over half a century of volunteering at Sutherland House for the former civil engineer.

And it was only by chance that he ended up there in the first place.

Back in 1970, Ian was the chair of the local council of youth fellowships. 
As part of this role, he was able to chose the charity the group would support for the coming year.

Ian said: "I decided that we would go for a local one, I suggested that we raise money for Sutherland House.

"I also suggested that a few of the members come along to the place for a wee while just to get an idea of the things that were done.

"I stayed. I just got involved there."

Ayr Advertiser: Ian Holland was awarded a BEM in the New Year honours list.

Since then, Ian has helped out and carried out a number of roles within Enable Ayr. 

From general maintenance like changing lightbulbs to helping run the many groups the charity runs, he has done it all.

"We support a whole raft of people through difficult times," he said.

While Ian has played a major role in helping through tough periods such as the Covid pandemic, as well as supporting so many people, he has remained incredibly humble after his BEM nod.

He added: "We've got so many good helpers here, so I think it's more of a shared thing because we have done a lot together."