A VOLUNTEER from Selkirk will receive a long-service award in recognition of her support for vulnerable children.

Young at heart Ann Taylor has been volunteering at the Barnardo’s Scotland shop in Selkirk for the last 20 years.

The 79-year-old great grandmother has donated well in excess of 10,000 hours of her own time to help the charity, sorting donated stock and serving the customers.

To mark Ann’s decades of dedication, and to coincide with national Volunteers’ Week, she received a certificate and a bouquet of flowers from shop manager Mandy Cockburn.

After leaving school Ann was an apprentice tailor. She married at 20 and as was customary, was a stay-at-home mum looking after her family of six. Her youngest, but now grown up daughter, had made enquiries about volunteering with Barnardo’s Scotland, but unable to take up the position herself, thought it would be ideal for her mum. And 20 years on Ann is still volunteering in the Selkirk shop.

Ann volunteered in the shop on Saturdays and two afternoons each week; she has learnt and done all of the jobs in the shop from stock checking and steaming to dressing the window and working on the till and serving customers. Ann said: “We did it all before computers and that included stock-taking and selling goods.” Ann continued: “I’ve always enjoyed going to the shop from day one, it’s a lot of fun, we have a good bunch of volunteers in the shop and I’ve made lots of friends and got to know a lot of people in the town, I think I know just about everyone in Selkirk.

“We’ve had some strange donations over the years, including a frying pan with a burnt egg in it, which we displayed in the window – it was quite an attraction, a grave stone was handed in and we’ve had some urns, two filled with ashes!

“We have good quality stock to sell thanks to the generosity of the people across the Borders, and we get a lot of shoppers, including bus tour groups.” For Ann volunteering was originally something different to do outside of family life, but by working with the charity she realised there were children who needed help and support to get on in life, and how the shops play a vital part in raising money to support the services working with children. Ann said: “The work the charity does is very interesting and varied and helps children; people should use that as their motivation to volunteer.” Ann still very much enjoys her volunteering in the shop but has reduced her hours to working Thursday mornings, where she is in charge of the steamer to make sure stock is pristine when it goes on to the shop floor to be sold. And with 13 grandchildren and two great grandchildren she is kept very busy away from the shop.

Selkirk shop manager, Mandy Cockburn, said: “Ann has made such a valuable contribution to the success of the shop over the past twenty years; she’s been very generous with her support and is a great volunteer. It’s an absolute pleasure to work alongside her.

“The charity simply couldn’t run their shops without the support of our volunteers; I’d like to say a big thank you to all of them and especially to the team here in Selkirk.” Barnardo’s Scotland Selkirk shop is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5.30pm and on Sundays from 12pm to 4pm.

The team always welcomes donations of good-quality clothes, books, toys, games, accessories and bric-a-brac, and would very much welcome offers of help from potential volunteers - call Mandy Cockburn on 01750 21645.

For volunteering opportunities in Barnardo’s Scotland shops go to our website www.barnardos.org.uk/scotland/shops