A THORNCOMBE man who has dedicated more than 30 years to helping the fight against blood cancer has had his hard work rewarded with an MBE.

Richard Delderfield has volunteered for cancer charity Bloodwise since losing his teenage son, Paul, to leukaemia in 1985.

He was awarded the MBE for services to the charity and the local Thorncombe community by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.

Mr Delderfield said: “Nothing can prepare you for the grandness of everything inside the Palace. My guests were led to the ballroom where the investiture was to take place, while I joined the other recipients for a briefing about the day.

“When Prince Charles asked me how much money had been raised and how much progress had been made, my response to the latter was ‘Sir, how much time do you have?’, and I went on to say ‘I know that my son Paul’s death was not in vain’.

Mr Delderfield 74, who is Honorary President of the national charity, was a member of its Board of Trustees for more than 20 years and served as its vice chairman.

Richard was raised in Essex and as a teenager he lost his mother to leukaemia when she was just 42.

His son Paul was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in October 1984. He had just started sixth form and was interested in pursuing a career in nature photography and film. Despite intensive treatment, the disease returned and Paul died in August 1985 aged 17.

Mr Delderfield was accompanied to Buckingham Palace last Thursday by his wife Angela and his daughter Lucy, who had flown over from Australia for the occasion, and Cathy Gilman, the chief executive of Bloodwise.

Mr Delderfield added: “My abiding memory of the day has to be the dozens of palace staff, from policemen at the gate to the guard’s officer guiding you to the dais, everyone you met spoke with kindness, congratulations and made you feel an important and individual part of the day – you could almost have been the only person getting an award that day.

"Our son Paul died of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, aged 17. He would have been the proudest of sons to have been at The Palace.”