A St Albans resident who received a British Empire Medal for services to the community in Herts has died at the age of 91.

Pam Farley received the accolade in 2013 following her involvement with the Woodland Trust support group.

The group was set up over 10 years ago after the trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity which established Heartwood Forest in Sandridge, asked for volunteers to initiate it.

At the time of receiving her BEM Pam said: “There were about five or six of us who put our hands up and said we had the time and the enthusiasm to help.”

Pam was born on December 15 1929, at Stourbridge in the West Midlands

She was very keen on sport and did her teacher training at St Gabriel’s where she specialised in PE. When the £10 POM scheme started Pam and her friend Jean applied and off they went to Australia.

After a few years, they were both asked to go and teach in colleges, and it was in Australia that Pam became a golf lover.

Upon their return to the UK, Pam went to Welwyn Garden City to work in a comprehensive school.

When Heartwood Forest was first mooted Pam became an active member of the Woodland Trust and gave lectures and slideshows to raise money and publicise their work.

Pam also frequently helped with guided tours at the Royal National Rose Society’s Gardens of the Rose as well as being a very active member of the St Albans Conservative Party and a low handicap golfer at Verulam Golf Club.

Pam lived for the last few months of her life in Alban Manor who took excellent care of her. She died on August 13 and her funeral was attended by family and friends on August 26.

Friend Richard Curthoys said: "Pam was a doer, and hers was a life of duty and a home full of good humour and laughter."