JOANNA Spreckley, who helped found the Powick branch of the British Legion, has died at the age of 103.

Mrs Spreckley, formerly of King's End Road, Powick, died at Woodlands Retirement Home, Hampshire, on Sunday, November 16.

The mother-of-two moved to Worcestershire in 1930 after her husband, Royal Navy captain Malcolm, who died in 1974, started work at his family's brewers, Spreckley Brothers, in Barbourne.

Mrs Spreckley lived in Powick for 67 years, where she helped set up the women's section of the Powick British Legion, of which she was president for 50 years.

During the First World War, she and her sister Theodora joined the Red Cross, working as nurses in a London Hospital.

She subsequently served as a volunteer nurse during the Second World War at the former Royal Infirmary in Worcester.

She was also involved in charity work and ran the library at the former Powick Mental Hospital as a Red Cross member.

Mrs Spreckley leaves behind two children - Josephine, aged 74, and Ralph, aged 71.

"She was a great organiser and was very much involved in charities, said Ralph Spreckley, from Hampshire. "She had a pretty full life."

A thanksgiving service is being held at St Peter's Church in Powick on Thursday, December 4, at 2pm.