AN ANNUAL dinner for volunteers, partner and friends of the British Red Cross saw a Test Valley great-grandmother honoured for her years of service.

Beatrice Hurst was presented with a 50 years’ service badge by Jan Treacher-Evans, senior fundraiser for Hampshire and Isle of Wight together with the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire and president of the Hampshire branch of the Red Cross, the Earl of Portsmouth, at North Baddesley Village Hall.

Beatrice, also known as Bunny, joined the Red Cross in 1965 as a volunteer working in the Romsey office opposite Nightingale Lodge in Winchester Road.

She was trained up in all forms of medical training before eventually transferring to the charity’s fundraising department in 2013, where she still volunteers.

The great-grandmother-of-18 from Brownhill Road in North Baddesley said she still intends to work for some time to come.

Beatrice, 84, said: “I felt that I have achieved something, there was a sense of pride to think that I’d made it to 50 years. I’m hoping to carry on for as long as I can.”

A certificate of gratitude was also presented to fundraising team leader Avis Reeves, who raised £9,539 during 2015.

Two other volunteers Eileen Love and Andrew Crook who couldn’t be at the ceremony were also honoured for their years of service of 50 years and 15 years respectively.