The Most Revd Desmond Tutu has been given a special award by the Archbishop of Canterbury - The Archbishop of Canterbury's Award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion. Archbishop Tutu is the first recipient of this award which was presented to him personally by the Archbishop of Canterbury in Cape Town during a farewell service at the end of June.

The award was a specially commissioned silver casket set on the top with malachite and a Canterbury Cross, the centre of which is set with a tanzanite stone (local to South Africa). The text of Dr Carey's presentation follows:

quot;It has long been my intention to introduce a special award, which would be made only very rarely; an award to individuals from around the Anglican Communion who, through their lifetime, make a quite outstanding contribution to the life of the Communion, and to our own witness in the world. There could be no more suitable person to receive this first award. Desmond has given his life to the people of South Africa, and to preaching the Word of God through his life as well as his words, wherever he has gone in the world. It is my delight and my privilege to invite Desmond to receive the Archbishop of Canterbury's award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion. And let us pray that as he moves into this new sphere of his ministry, he and Leah will continue to be richly blessed by God."

Archbishop Tutu was also presented with an award by President Nelson Mandela of South Africa. He was awarded with the Order for Meritorious Service (gold), for his outstanding service in the public interest. This is the first time the award has been given a South African citizen and is usually given to foreign heads of state.

Although Desmond Tutu is retiring as Archbishop of Capetown and Primate of the Province of Southern Africa, he will continue as Chairman of South Africa's official Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigates abuses perpetrated in the apartheid era.