WANBOROUGH cancer survivor and mother-of-two Elizabeth Ewart has been named the Daily Telegraph’s Volunteer of the Year.

The 43-year-old received her award from London Mayor Boris Johnson in a ceremony at City Hall last week.

She was nominated by members of her local community as part of the Telegraph’s Lend a Hand campaign.

The former accountant first started her voluntary work five years ago, after she was diagnosed with cancer.

She gave up work as she underwent treatment, and started to get involved in volunteering while recovering. She now volunteers for Samaritans.

“My diagnosis made me reassess my life,” she said. “As I have always been interested in people, I wanted to be more involved with my community and to be able to help people.

“I decided to join Samaritans because I experienced extreme anxiety when I had cancer, and wanted to help ease that anxiety in other people.”

On her time as a Samaritans volunteer in Swindon, Elizabeth said: “I have really enjoyed it. The people I work with are the most amazingly kind and supportive people from all different walks of life.

“The people who contact Samaritans are going through a difficult time in their lives, and it has been so rewarding when I’ve been able to make a real empathic connection with them, or to help them in that moment.”

As well as volunteering for Samaritans, Elizabeth runs sessions for residents in an old people’s home and spends an evening a week supporting troubled teenagers.

“At Samaritans, I have answered some very moving calls which have inspired me to want to help young people,” she said. “It seemed that every time I got involved with one voluntary project, it led on to another.”

The judges for the Volunteer of the Year award included former MP Ann Widdecombe and actress Barbara Windsor.

In their judgment, they spoke highly of Elizabeth’s contribution as a volunteer, saying: “She is a true all-rounder, a self-starter, a real example of how lending a hand leads to something more and more and more – and an inspiration in terms of putting something back after life took a bad turn for her.”

Upon finding out she had won the award, Elizabeth said: “I was completely shocked and elated as I don’t think I’ve ever won an award.

“And the fact that this is for something I’m passionate about made it all the more worthwhile.

“I was also excited that I got to shake Boris’s hand.”

Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of Samaritans, said: “We wouldn’t be able to offer our life-saving service without the hard work and dedication of our volunteers, so it’s wonderful news to hear that Elizabeth has won this award.”