Gran gets MBE after 40 years devoted to helping other people
A GRANDMOTHER from Hatfield who has dedicated 40 years of her life to helping others has received an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
Betty Bateson, 69, has spent most of her life volunteering for charities in Doncaster including a local one that makes customised equipment for disabled people.
"I was delighted when I heard the news, although it was a shock," Mrs Bateson said. "I thought it was a hoax at first and I was totally bemused."
Mrs Bateson, from Westfield Road, will receive her honour from the Queen at a ceremony later in the year.
Her dedication for helping others began with her first taste of volunteering in her early 20s while she was working for British Nylon Spinners in Doncaster.
"We decorated a Sue Ryder place at Hickleton and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A while after that I started volunteering at my children's playgroup," she said.
"I get a lot of satisfaction out of volunteering. I do voluntary work and I enjoy it. I'm driven by an interest in people, a curiosity about the world and how we live in it. I just like to be involved."
Now Mrs Bateson, who has two daughters and grandchildren, is a member of numerous organisations including the Friends of Hatfield Church and
a project to build a community centre for Hatfield.
She has also been a co-ordinator of Hatfield Village Art Show, the first chair of the Home-Start family charity in Doncaster and, most recently, a secretary for REMAP, a group of volunteers who design and make equipment for disabled people that is not available commercially.
"We take so much for granted and suddenly we are faced with a paraplegic child who wants to be doing something quite simple," Mrs Bateson said.
"People at REMAP can be profoundly disabled but still have a smile and appreciate everything we do for them.
"We made some equipment for a girl who could only use her mouth to write. Afterwards she used it to make a picture for us.
"Things like that make you realise how lucky you are and how much you take for granted."
Mrs Bateson said that she would not have been awarded an MBE had it not been for the support of her husband Rob, 70.
She added: "He has been vital because I have been volunteering for 40 years and I have been doing things in the evening when he came home from work. He has always supported and encouraged me to go ahead."
People interested in volunteering for REMAP should call 840600.
A nurse who was trained at Doncaster Royal Infirmary has also received an MBE for her "outstanding contribution to health care".
Pauline Tagg, from Campsall, worked as a nurse in Doncaster for 35
years. She now lives in Leicestershire.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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