A KIDDERMINSTER volunteer who has spent most of his life raising awareness about diabetes has been given an international award for his work.

Fred Holland, 77, was put forward for the International Diabetes Federation award which acknowledges outstanding volunteers globally, by Diabetes UK.

Mr Holland is the first person to receive the award in the UK and is going to Istanbul, Turkey, to collect the award in November.

Mr Holland said: “I am looking forward to it, I have been doing this for 44 years and I just can’t believe it.

“I am only a volunteer at the end of the day.”

Mr Holland was featured in the Diabetes UK annual report in recognition of his 44 years of campaigning and fundraising for sufferers of the condition.

The document stated Mr Holland had made “Kidderminster a better place to live for anyone affected by diabetes” through his “momentous efforts”.

He became especially aware of the critical need to improve local diabetes services following his daughter Vivienne’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis in 1971.

His achievements were acknowledged when the Kidderminster Hospital’s diabetes unit was named after him.

In 2013 Mr Holland was one of four finalists in the ITV Midlands Local Hero of the Year awards, which are part of the prestigious Pride of Britain initiative, while earlier this year he was named Healthcare Hero by the BBC in Hereford and Worcester.