A WOMAN has won a trip to the US after forming a pioneering network of campaigning pensioners.

In a move aimed at dispelling the usual image of helpless elderly people who complain about being given a low priority in society, Shirley Ellis helped to form the Retired Resource Network in Hartlepool.

The network was one of several similar groups nationwide seen as a form of local government for pensioners, giving them a strong voice.

Mrs Ellis, of Catcote Road, Hartlepool, won the travelling fellowship fund from the Churchill Memorial Trust through her involvement in the network.

She said: "I intend to embark on a fact-finding mission to explore the issues affecting multi-cultural older people in the US and Canada, and discover the methods being undertaken to address these.

"I will compare issues, good practice and policies to identify measures which have worked or failed, and consider which can be adopted for our country.''

The trip is part of an extended programme devised after research conducted in Portugal and organised by Mrs Ellis, 63.

The network encourages older people to speak up for themselves, to enjoy further education and to lobby for better services.

The group has drawn up a directory of tradesmen approved by pensioners.

They have also been to see Tony Blair to explain how successful they have been in winning better bus services