LEDBURY Rotary Club has received national recognition after being given the organisation's Award for International Service, one of only three presented this year.

It has been given in recognition of the success of a diabetic footcare project, set up by the Ledbury club in Tobago, with the help of the group's "twin", the Rotary Club of Tobago.

Foot problems in Tobago are often down to an unusually high incidence of diabetes on the Caribbean island, because the illness can reduce foot sensitivity in a hot country where many people walk barefoot or in sandals, and wounds can fester.

But in the last five year, the footcare programme has reduced the need for leg amputations by as much as 80%.

The programme not only helps people with infected feet, it encourages and teaches Tobagans now carry out regular foot checks themselves, to spot potential problems.

The award was presented on May 16 by Stewart Gilbert, the Rotary District International Service chairman, at a meeting in the Feathers Hotel.

Mr Gilbert said: "They key attraction of this programme is that it is quite simple. It is neither high tech nor expensive. But it is extremely effective, with real benefits."

Now the plan is for the programme's three footcare specialists, Graham and Melanie Curryer and Tracy Oliver, all from Canada, to carry on the good work in neighbouring Trinidad, where it has already started, and also in Nevis and Montserrat.