MBE shock for Dixie

East Preston-based Dixie has managed the Save the Children shop since 1989 and has been a volunteer with the organisation for 62 years.

"I was shocked. I wasn't expecting it at all," she said of her New Year honour, "I do this because it's what I enjoy."

She paid tribute to the volunteers at the shop: "I have a wonderful team, they are second to none."

It was while Dixie was an 18-year-old student nurse at a children's hospital that she became actively involved with the organisation, and in 1945 travelled to Germany to provide aid and support to orphans and refugees from the Nazi concentration camps.

She was a member of the Worthing fund-raising branch, and joined the Arundel and Littlehampton branch in 1962 when she moved to East Preston.

During this time, Dixie opened a string of temporary charity shops on short-term leases in East Preston and Rustington and was delighted when the permanent Littlehampton shop opened.

The fund-raising branch wound down shortly after the shop opened, but Dixie agreed the shop was an excellent way to promote the organisation as well as to raise much needed funds for children both abroad and at home.

"It is a very satisfying way to spend one's time," she added.