TWO volunteers who devoted years to satisfying the reading appetites of elderly and housebound people will be honoured next week.

Irene Robson, known to her friends as Rene, has given her free time for 36 years through the Women's Royal Volunteer Service (WRVS), in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

She helped run its clothing store and set up the home library service 20 years ago.

To mark her achievements, the WRVS is holding a party in her honour, in Newton Aycliffe Library, on Monday, where she will be presented with a long-service medal.

Fellow WRVS member Eileen Hawthorn, who has spent 15 years establishing the Home Library Service in Stanley, County Durham, will be presented with her long-service medal at Catchgate Library, near Stanley, on Monday.