THEY are a familiar sight at the Royal Bolton Hospital, helping lost visitors find their way, or running luncheon clubs around the borough.

Now WRVS members are to get the recognition they deserve with a book dedicated to 60 years of voluntary service in Bolton.

Former WRVS member Pat Cox was determined the hard work carried out in the town should not go unrecognised and put pen to paper.

The result was "WRVS In The Community", a history of the local service with atmospheric photographs, a number of which were provided by the Bolton Evening News library.

Although the WRVS is well known for its work in hospitals, and many local people will perhaps recall the smart green uniforms, there is a great deal more to the organisation as the book goes on to prove.

Pat remembers as a child, on her way to school, seeing a woman wearing the uniform of the Women's Voluntary Service, as it was called then. Little did she know that one day she too would be part of the famous organisation.

Pat has six children and 18 grandchildren and has always been a busy woman. She decided to join the WRVS in 1966 when with, at that time, four young children, she was looking for some "adult stimulation" and a chance to get out of the house.

Pat, who lives in Bolton with husband Frank, said: "I did it for me. I think the women who were able to give most to the WRVS were those who did it because they wanted to get something out of the organisation."

Although Pat gave up her work with the WRVS in 1994, she still has a fondness for the organisation which has, sadly, cut back on its local offices and now does not have any local presence.

During her time in the WRVS, she was the Bolton metropolitan organiser and then went to work for Greater Manchester county.

Pat remembers, fondly, the heyday of the WRVS. "It was probably around the 1980s", she said, when there were offices not only in Bolton, but in Horwich and Farnworth too.

However she wanted her book to be "upbeat and positive" and said: "I wanted it to be about my personal experiences and how it affected me. I wanted it to be a positive book."

The WRVS has always worked hard to raise money and Bolton's hospitals have, over the years, benefited greatly from cash collected by the service's members.

The organisation has also run successful luncheon clubs and groups for local residents and, in the 1960s, was well known for its meals-on-wheels for the elderly.

This book is a historical record of the service which goes right back to 1938, when it was started in response to a Government appeal for volunteers to help prepare Britain for the outbreak of the Second World War.

It is Pat's second book. Her first, "Edith and Pat -- A Story of Life in Farnworth" is invariably always on the Sweetens bookshop bestsellers' list. Pat is particularly proud of the fund raising the WRVS did to raise money for two vehicles. "They got a lot of people out of their homes who wouldn't have been able to do that if they didn't have our help," she said.

"WRVS In The Community" is published by Felton Books at £7.50. It is stocked by Sweetens Bookshop in Deansgate, where Pat Cox is having a signing session from 2pm tomorrow.