The Broons Awards: Meet our sensational seniors

This week, we’re focussing on a group we could all learn some life lessons from – our Inspiring Seniors.

For many people, retirement is a time to take life a bit more slowly and put their feet up.

Someone forgot to tell our finalists that!

They prove you’re only as old as you feel and that life begins at 70.

Read on, find out a bit more about the selfless deeds our seniors have performed and feel proud of every one of them!

Jim McConkey: Safety first for seniors

JIM is a retired engineer – but he’s been putting the skills he learned from his career to good use since he stopped working.

The 78-year old from Cardonald has invented a string of gadgets to make life for the elderly and disabled easier and safer.

Over the years he’s invented a self-extinguishing chip pan, a walking stick alarm and smoke alarms with a pull cord for ease of testing.

Jim is one those people with a mind that never stops whirring.

When asked how he’s managed to come up with such ingenious gadgets over the years he says simply: “I’ve seen a need for them.

“I’ve got a flair and an imagination and that means I want to do something about it.”

As for being nominated for a Broons Award, Jim is over the moon.

“Well, it was the last thing I expected,” he chuckles. “I was absolutely over the moon when I heard.”

Jim is hoping that his nomination will help his safety-first gadgets to reach a wider audience.

“I honestly feel they will make life safer and easier for the elderly and the disabled,” he says. “I’m hoping Glasgow City Council will take these on and get them out there.”

Mena and Walter Scott: Fighting for stroke victims

THERE’S only one word Walter Scott has when he hears he’s been nominated for a Broons Award.

“Gobsmacked!” he laughs. “It’s tremendous!”

To say he and wife Mena didn’t expect it would be an understatement.

Yet they’ve been quietly working away for 30 years to help others.

When Mena’s dad had a stroke, they realised there was little in the way of rehabilitation.

So Walter, 80 and Mena, 79, started a stroke club, which is still running in South Shields.

They take classes and are assessors for stroke patients.

You can hear the pride in Walter’s voice as he explains a little about their work.

“Some stroke patients come in and they can’t talk or hold a pencil any more,” he says. “After a few weeks or months, they’re talking and writing. We had a master builder who had never painted in his life before his stroke.

“He was right-handed, but now he’s painting with his left hand and doing some amazing work.”

Walter and Mena continue to raise funds for the club by holding car boot sales and raffles. They have dedicated their lives to helping others.

When asked if they ever think about putting their feet up, Walter sounds baffled.

“No,” he says. “What would we do?”

Jim Gillies: Saving the lives of vulnerable children

WHEN Chernobyl was hit by a nuclear disaster in 1986, the world was horrified by the after-effects and injuries it caused.

That horror was slowly forgotten as people moved on.

Jim Gillies, though, couldn’t forget.

The pensioner from Cumbernauld started by holding a vigil in George Square to remember those affected by the disaster.

That wasn’t enough, though, and since 1999 he’s been he’s been visiting the Ukrainian town of Malin, part of the nuclear exclusion zone where few outsiders would dare to visit.

Jim, 75, has spent years fundraising, then taking vital supplies and equipment to Malin hospital. Many children are still badly affected. He describes them, and the doctors and nurses, as a long-distance family.

The intrepid pensioner used to make the gruelling journey by bus – until his wife Margaret put her foot down!

Jim insists it’s all worth it, though.

“When you meet a father who’s travelled 10 miles on foot to bring his child to the hospital, it makes you want to help,” he says.

Jim is simply thrilled with his nomination.

“It was so out of the blue I couldn’t take it in!” he says. “But then I got really excited by it. I still can’t believe it.”

VIEW THE FULL LIST OF FINALISTS – CLICK HERE