TRIBUTES have been paid to a respected community champion who was honoured by the Queen for his devotion to helping others.

Cliff Wallace, 90, founder and volunteer and numerous elderly and community projects, died on September 20, after suffering a heart attack.

Mr Wallace, from Rochford, was made an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list in 2009 for voluntary service to older people in the town and spent of his life helping others.

In 1960, Mr Wallace co-founded the Old People’s Welfare Committee for Rochford and District with his friend the late Fred Wheeler.

Myra Weir, a Hawkwell parish councillor, worked with Mr Wallace on the Welfare Committee. She said: “He always had a joke to tell, even at the end before he died. Every time he spoke at a meeting he was very funny and had a lovely sense of humour.

“The reason he went down the old people’s cause was that he used to work in a coroner’s office, and saw a lot of elderly suicides. That devoted him to campaign heavily for the elderly, he was a lovely man.

“Even the day they took him to the hospital he was on his way to a meeting. The paramedic called from the ambulance to let us know about Cliff, even then he still wanted to come our meeting.”

As well as his work with the committee, Mr Wallace was also a pillar of the Rochford community and was involved in many other schemes and projects aiming to improve people’s lives, including being the founder president of Rochford Citizen Advice Bureau.

He helped set up Rochford’s first meals-on-wheels service, served on the old community health council for 20 years, and has campaigned for better health and social care through Link, a network of groups which aim to improve care services.

In 2009, Mr Wallace was awarded for his services to the community by becoming the inaugural winner of the Rochford citizen of the year award.

His funeral will be held at Southend Crematorium on Monday, October 14 at 2.40pm.