VOLUNTEERS from across Swindon have been thanked for the help they give young people in the town.

More than 100 volunteers who work with children and young people received certificates to mark the contribution they make.

The event, organised by Swindon Council, honoured organisations such as the NSPCC, independent visitor service Spurgeons, the Children's Fund, Sure Start, Swindon Ten to Eighteen Project, Swindon Young Carers, Goddard Park Community School and Home Start.

Joy Kennard, the council's strategy and commissioning manager, said volunteers were essential to Swindon.

"There is an enormous amount of work they do, acting as advocates, as mentors, as befrienders for families and as support group workers," she said.

Volunteers Lara Merkens-Dow and Chris Bull, from the North Swindon Family Centre, have seen first hand the difference volunteers can make to young people's lives.

In the past Lara has worked with a boy who was so scared of travelling by car he could not get to school.

She worked on his confidence and broke down his fear and now he is able to travel by taxi to school.

"Sitting in a car and going from A to B just wasn't possible for him," she said.

"We never did find out why he had the fear but he's fine now if he knows where he's going and the route.

"The family has changed now. They can go places by car rather than just walking and staying in the area they live in. The whole family's livened up and can enjoy being a family again."

Chris, a nurse, has been able to put his professional skills to good use, offering medical support to an NSPCC fun day and helping a socially nervous teenager become more confident.

"I worked to tackle his difficulties in interacting with other people. I'd go around and see him once a month and would talk through problems he had at school.

"We'd go out to different events. He'd never been to a football match so we went to Swindon Town and he had a great time. The work we did helped remove him from the family environment as that was all he knew - his parents were the only people he interacted with.

"I don't see him any more, he's grown up and is interacting with his own peers. Getting to that stage has been so rewarding for me."

The event, at the University of Bath's Oakfield Campus, also saw performing arts students from Swindon College stage a piece based on bullying and domestic violence.

Coun Garry Perkins, cabinet member for children's services, presented the volunteers with their awards.

He said: "Hundreds of people across the town give up their time to provide support for children and young people and their families.

"Their remarkable efforts enable the youth of our community to achieve, enjoy life and be healthy."