Wives and widows of former Gurkha soldiers joined Joanna Lumley to present the long-standing founder of the SSAFA volunteer group with an award to mark her retirement after 12 years with the project.

Pamela Reynolds, who was also awarded an Empire Medal for her work with the group in 2017, was delighted to bring everyone together to celebrate the work that has been done for the ladies over the past decade.

She said that it was such a ‘privilege’ to have Joanna join them on the day in celebration of the many volunteers.

“Although this certificate has my name on it, it should really have the names of all our volunteers because they are really the ones who do all the work,” she explained.

“I started it 12 years ago when I realised that Gurkha ladies arriving in the UK as dependents of their retired soldier husbands would benefit from English language teaching, enabling them to lead more fulfilled lives.

“Expecting 10 ladies to turn up, I was surprised that the first session brough 60 Gurkha women to the Wycliffe Centre and it’s grown from there.

“We feel so blessed that Joanna was able to join us. The ladies definitely made us feel welcome as they wrapped us in scarves. It was the perfect day.”

The TV star and travel guru has been a huge part of the project for over 10 years and says that it holds a special place in her heart.

She has supported those involved in the community as they learned to speak, read and write in English after moving to the UK with their husbands who were Gurkha soldiers.

As the community grew in numbers, the TV star has spearheaded many campaigns to support the Gurkha veterans who served in the British Army and their wives to help them settle.

The Gurkha programme grew from the work that the SSAFA team were already completing with veterans.

Pam added: “Joanna has such a wonderful presence and her work with the Gurkha ladies is so beautiful. She really has been there from the beginning, and we all enjoy it when she comes to Reading.

“We have planned to create a cookbook which will contain recipes that the women remember from their childhood and also recipes from our volunteers.

“Half the proceeds will go to SSAFA and we are getting some help from Joanna as well as we promote it.”

The women meet every Tuesday and Thursday morning at The Wycliffe Centre on Kings Road.