A community association at the heart of one of Bury St Edmunds’s biggest estates has been nominated for a county-wide award.

The Howard Estate Association of Residents and Tenants - which has the apt acronym of HEART - has been shortlisted in the community group category at this year’s High Sheriff Awards.

The winners of this year’s awards, which recognise outstanding contributions to the voluntary sector across Suffolk, will be announced next month, with HEART one of three in the running for the top prize.

The group was nominated by one of the area’s county councillors, Mark Ereira-Gyer, who said: “It deserves it. In terms of residents associations the HEART has done more the get the best out of public services in the community.

“They deserve real recognition across Suffolk as an example - an example of what can happen on a large estate where the community have come together, they stand up for each other and they speak truth to power.

“Less affluent areas tend to get overlooked, and the people that live there get overlooked even more. The HEART is very good at making sure that their needs as an urban area aren’t overlooked.”

Led by its tireless chairman Ernie Broom, the group has thrown itself into campaigns to benefit both the young and old in recent times, taking an active role in the ongoing school organisation review.

It played a big part in bringing a food bank to Bury, as well as saving its local post office and getting a pharmacy on the estate.