A SELFLESS 95-year-old has been recognised for dedicating five decades of her life to volunteering for a charity close to her heart.

Jean Robson, from Darlington, has spent her life helping to fundraise for the Guide Dogs group which was set up in a meeting held in the town in March 1967.

Ms Robson became a founding member of the group and has since spent her life giving hours of her time to organising fashion shows, dog shows, coffee mornings and countless other events to fundraise for the charity.

The 95-year-old became chair of the Guide Dogs group in Darlington which aims to support blind and partially-sighted people who face daily struggles without the assistance of a specially-trained guide dog.

The group have now honoured Ms Robson with an award for 50 years of volunteering.

A Guide Dogs spokeswoman said: “About 30 years ago, Jean became chair of the group and in order to save money, she offered her home as a place to hold the Guide Dogs fundraising group meetings and that has continued ever since.

“She remembers the most amount of money raised in her time was when she took an empty shop in Guide Dogs Week and ran it as a charity shop.

“However, her favourite fundraising memory was of a worst singer competition in a pub when a guide dog howled along with the winner.”