On a beautiful Sunday afternoon Mousehole Male Voice choir assembled, with friends and family, at St Thomas’ church in Heamoor for a very special occasion. One of our second tenors, Ken Prouse, was being presented with his British Empire Medal by the Lord Lieutenant of the county, Colonel Edward Bolitho OBE. Ken’s award was in recognition of all his work, over many years, to the community here in Penzance. His success in retirement comes from his long standing involvement as a gardener and in the later stages of his career as head gardener of the Morrab Gardens in Penzance. Under his leadership, these gardens attained a national and international reputation for being an outstanding sub-tropical garden in Britain. Even in retirement, Ken has kept up his horticultural interests. He was the founding member of the Penzance Community Flora Group (PCFG) consisting of local people with different talents committed to planting flowers to brighten up the town of Penzance for the residents and visitors alike. He was the organiser of the first Horticultural Show in Cornwall with a reputation as an excellently run and efficient show.

Apart from his horticultural interests he has been a member of the St John's Ambulance, Penzance Division for 60 years where he has consistently been involved in fundraising activities and has trained many recruits. He organised a monthly jumble sale to raise money for a new ambulance and he achieved this goal ultimately. He has also been involved with Penzance football Club for over 50 years.