A LONG-SERVING RAF welfare worker was presented with the British Empire Medal for her role in helping families come to terms with loss following a military disaster.

Agnes Gardiner was presented with the honour by Group Captain Stephen Reeves during a ceremony at RAF Leeming.

Ms Gardiner has been a support worker with the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association – which provides welfare support to RAF Families and their dependants – for more than 18 years and has helped military personnel and their families through times of crisis in Kinloss, Cyprus, Leeming and Lossiemouth.

One of her most challenging tasks was dealing with a Nimrod crash in Afghanistan on September 2, 2006.

She said: “It was a Saturday evening, and the SSAFA head of service phoned me to say that a Nimrod had gone down, resulting in the deaths of all 14 personnel on board.”

As a SSAFA worker at the Nimrod’s home base of RAF Kinloss, Ms Gardiner was part of the community support team that dealt with the impact of the disaster.

She said: “It was a very difficult time – working from 7am to 11pm every day.”

Ms Gardiner added: “I felt very humbled – and quite shocked because it took me back to the feelings I had after the Nimrod crash.

“It’s a wonderful honour but came with a huge cost.”