YORK voluntary sector leader Colin Stroud received a medal from the Queen - and got chatting about the city's flooding problems.
Colin, 56, from Alne, near Easingwold, went to Buckingham Palace earlier this week with his wife, Nicky, daughter Hannah and oldest son Nathan to be presented with an MBE.
The honour was made in recognition of his work for the past 15 years in running York Council for Voluntary Service.
He said that when the Queen had become aware of where he was from, she had spoken to him about how the city had been "terribly badly flooded" in recent times.
He had told her of his involvement in organising a relief fund after the disaster of November, 2000.
She had spoken with genuine concern of the damage flooding can cause to people's homes, saying she believed it was one of the worst things that could happen to anyone.
Updated: 10:16 Friday, May 02, 2003
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