BOURTREEHILL Age Concern were given a great boost last week - after an Irvine boy raised £600 for the group.

Kind-hearted Irvine Royal Academy pupil Kerr Murray recently completed the Great Scottish Run in aid of Age Concern.

And he even had a special message for Age Concern Chair, Betty Weir, when he took part in the fundraising event.

Kerr was inspired to raise money for the group after his gran was well looked after by Betty and the other volunteers.

The Age Concern were delighted to receive the £600 from Kerr and Betty insists the money is an excellent boost for the centre.

She said: “It’s a great wee lift for us, it will go into the pot and be put to good use.

“Anything we get is a good lift and helps us grow and importantly it’s put towards the people who come here.

Irvine Times:

“It really was lovely of Kerr to do that for us and the wee message for me was so nice.”

Both Betty and fellow volunteer Jean Reader have unfortunately missed out on a Pride of Britain Award.

The pair were nominated for the TSB Community Partnership Award and attended a special reception down in London, as the Times told last week.

Betty added: “It was great that we even made it that far, and got that kind of recognition.

“It’s good to see a lot of the smaller community groups that don’t normally get the spotlight on them given an award.

“We had a great time going down to London so we’re not too disappointed.”