DEDICATED volunteers with a Kidderminster charity will take some beating when it comes to long service.

Six members of the team at the coffee shop run by the League of Friends at Kidderminster Hospital are getting close to a double century of serving drinks and light meals to visitors and staff.

The Super Six have put in shifts for a total of 190 years between them and include 90-year-old Helen Whittington and Pauline Grainger who have both worked there for 37 years.

Jean Rumsey, who is 92 this year, and Audrey Spells have notched up 32 years apiece while Pat White and Rosemary Lester have completed 27 and 25 years respectively.

Mrs Rumsey said: “We are part of a big family of volunteers and have made some wonderful friendships along the way.

“We all feel it is important to support our local hospital and many of our customers feel the same way.”

League of Friends volunteers also operate a refreshment trolley serving hospital patients and staff at the Treatment Centre, and also offer a Wayfarers service to meet, greet and direct patients and visitors around the busy Bewdley Road site.

The charity also raises funds through a volunteer-run shop in Kidderminster’s Swan Centre.

All profits from the retail outlets along with donations and memberships enable the Friends to support services at the town hospital and to provide extra amenities for patients and staff where they are not available through the NHS.

The generosity of the Wyre Forest community has helped the Friends raise more than £4.5 million since it was formed in 1959.

The League of Friends is always on the lookout for new faces to join its large band of volunteers and anyone interested should contact administrator Natalie Mason on 01562 67653 or pick up an application form from the hospital coffee shop or Swan Centre charity shop.