BOURTREEHILL Age Concern stalwarts Betty Weir and Jean Reader were last week honoured with a reception at Westminster.

The dedicated duo have been nominated for the TSB Community Partner Award at this year’s Pride of Britain awards.

And last week they made the trip down to London for a special reception for the nominees at the Speaker’s House in the House of Commons last Tuesday, October 11.

Betty and Jean, who have been tirelessly running the Age Concern for 40 years, mingled with a host of guests including awards host Carol Vorderman. They should find out by next week if they have won the award.

Speaking after the reception, Betty said: “We thoroughly enjoyed the day. We got our picture taken with Carol Vorderman outside Big Ben and we met up with Philippa Whitford.

“We’re just lucky to have gotten this far I’m absolutely thrilled.

“We’ve definitely been spoiled!”

The awards ceremony will be held at London’s Grosvenor House in Park Lane on Halloween.

Paul Pester, CEO of TSB, added: “I’m delighted that Betty and Jean are finalists for the Pride of Britain TSB Community Award.

“The judges and I were incredibly impressed with their commitments to looking after older people in their local community.

“We introduced the TSB Community Award to celebrate ordinary people that do extraordinary things, working together in partnership as a force for good in their local communities and Betty and Jean are the perfect example of that.”