TWO members of staff from the Sense Scotland charity shop in Greenock have had their hard work recognised following award nominations.

Store manager Susan Dick, 56 was nominated by staff for the charity's Inspiration Award and dedicated volunteer David McAllister has been nominated as Volunteer of the Year.

The pair, who work at the shop in West Blackhall Street, were delighted to hear they had been put forward.

They will find out if they have won at a ceremony in the charity's head office in Glasgow on April 27.

Susan said: "I nominated David for his award but I had no idea I had been nominated myself.

"I was off and returned to an email telling me I had been nominated so that was a really nice surprise.

"I have been with the charity for seven years but have never had an individual award.

"It's really touching and it's lovely to be perceived as an inspiration.

"We have a great team here and we are all good friends so it's lovely that they nominated me."

Susan put David forward for the award of Volunteer of the Year but admitted that all the store's volunteers deserved to be rewarded for their efforts.

She said: "I pick a volunteer who goes above and beyond what you would expect and I was delighted that David was shortlisted for the award.

"He is a diamond who looks after the shop in my absence.

"He does more than is expected, everything I do but on a voluntary basis and is so deserving of the award.

"I have six volunteers who give up their time at the store and they're all great.

"I wouldn't be able to do the job without them all, they are worth their weight in gold."

A group from the store will make their way to the awards ceremony in Glasgow later this month but David will unfortunately not be amongst them as he is the best man at a wedding.

Susan said: "The awards recognise the staff and the volunteers but I would like to take the opportunity to thank our absolutely fantastic customers. Thank-you for all your support over the years, you have been fantastic and we really appreciate it."

MSP Stuart McMillan recently paid a visit to the store to congratulate Susan and David and volunteer Michelle Craig and her son Levi were also there to offer their congratulations and wish the pair luck for the awards later this month.

Mr McMillan said: "I am delighted to support David and Susan once again from the local Sense Scotland shop and wish them good luck.

“David and the team work tremendously hard and are a credit to Inverclyde."

Photograph: Susan Dick, David McAllister, Michelle Craig, her son Levi and MSP Stuart McMillan