A MAN originally from Gwynedd who is a founding member of a charity has been honoured in the Prime Minister’s Points of Light awards programme.

Barry Hunter, who is now based in East Grinstead, West Sussex, helped set up ‘Geograph’, a national archive charity which collects geographically representative photographs and information about every square kilometre of Britain and Ireland.

This helps to capture changes in UK society and the impact of weathering events, and has had roughly seven million pictures submitted from more than 13,000 contributors since 2005.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, awards an outstanding volunteer or charity leader for their inspirational service a 'Point of Light' each day, as part of a cross-party supported programme to promote the value of voluntary action.

Barry was the Point of Light recipient for January 12, in recognition for co-founding the innovative Geograph project, with which he continues to volunteer, offering his technical expertise in IT.

The Prime Minister will write to Barry personally, thanking him for his work.

Barry will also receive a certificate, and an announcement about his award will be published on the Points of Light website, which will be further promoted on social media by the Cabinet Office.

Barry said he was: “Amazed to be recognised for this; it’s an honour.

“My enjoyment comes from the dedication and passion so many people give to the project, so my contribution comes from trying to make something worthwhile from everyone’s effort.

“The project is so diverse, and has put me in contact with so many different people, I never know where it’s going to lead.

“We are hoping to build a collection that will be useful for years to come. It’s so interesting seeing what others do with our images.”

Geograph started as a hobby project and is now an educational, non-profit charity, relying almost entirely on voluntary donations to meet costs

Its mission is to make available to the public, via an open source website, images of every kilometre grid square on the map in Britain and Ireland.

For further information, visit www.geograph.org.uk or contact trustees@geograph.org.uk.