I'm a 90 year-old CARER!

Shirley Galsworthy has been helping make her community a better place for many decades

- KIM WILLIS

Ever since she was a Brown Owl for the local Brownies club when her children were young, Shirley Galsworthy BEM has known the power of community and the importance of helping others. 'I like to feel needed and that's a big thing as you get older,' says Shirley, from St Albans. 'In my job as a carer now, I'm needed and I am helpful. I don't think you should ever stop contributing to your community.'

Shirley, now 90, and her husband, Rob, married when she was 18. They had four children, but sadly Rob died just six weeks after being diagnosed with intestinal cancer when he was 35 and Shirley was 30.

'I never remarried, and our children and family grew up and moved all over the country and the world, with one of our granddaughters moving to Australia,' says Shirley. 'There are now five generations in our family and I am a proud great-great-grandmother. I hope to be a role model for the younger generations.'

After becoming a widow, Shirley needed to provide for her children as a single parent. She took in foreign students and worked as a foster parent, then started working in social care, specialising in helping teenagers start their adult lives after leaving the care system.

Volunteering was always important to her too. She would find time to drive elderly neighbours to hospital and dental appointments, and take part in an initiative cooking for the homeless.