A NURSING sister who has remained dedicated to her profession for more than six decades - and is still working - has won an accolade.

Connie Craven, 74, a part-time employee of Leazes Hall Nursing Care Home, in Burnopfield, County Durham, spoke of her lifelong passion of caring for others after being awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Social Care prize at the Great NorthEast Care Awards.

Mrs Craven said: "I am delighted with this award. I wasn't expecting this. My reward has been helping people to get better."

Mrs Craven said she had wanted to be a nurse for as long as she could remember.

She said: "I remember asking my parents for a nurse's uniform for Christmas and dressing up as a child, acting the part.

"I wrote to Shotley Bridge Hospital at the age of 16 asking for work, but they replied saying I was too young.

"A month later I got a letter from the matron saying she wanted to see me. I was terrified, but told her I had always wanted to look after sickly people."

Mrs Craven was taken on as a probationer - a year after the formation of the National Health Service - and started her formal training when she was 18.

She progressed to become a ward sister at Maiden Law and later went to work as a surgical and gynaecological sister at Dunston Hill Hospital, Whickham, where she met her second husband, Australian surgeon Gregory Craven.

The couple moved to Melbourne, where Mrs Craven worked on the blood squad.

When Mr Craven was appointed surgeon general of the Solomon Islands, she joined him and worked voluntarily.

When they returned to the North-East in the late Eighties, Mrs Craven worked at the Triple Theatre at Shotley Bridge Hospital.

She said: "When my husband died I was at a loose end and did not want to pack work in.

"A friend who was working here suggested I come along and I have been here for 20 years."

Care home manager Linda Tupman said: "Connie deserves the award. She has been and remains an inspiration to all her colleagues.

"She still walks the entire building to see the 50 residents to ensure they are well and the staff are maintaining a high level of care. She is also a fabulous teacher and motivator."