TRIBUTES have been paid to a great-grandfather who dedicated his life to helping others.

Ted Brewer, of Kingsdown, died of heart failure on December 16 at the age of 89.

The honorary member of St John Ambulance, who had been awarded the British Empire Medal in 1988, had spent the last 30 years volunteering as a hospital visitor and could still be found visiting patients at Great Western Hospital the week before he died.

His daughter Lyn Townsend said: “He was always rushing around. He would start at 6am and by 10pm he would still be going.

“He loved visiting the hospital. He liked seeing all the people because it made him feel like he was still working and it gave him a purpose. He used to go and make tea, replace the flowers and generally help people.

“He would do anything for everybody, he just wanted to do things. They used to call him Teapot Ted.”

Tedwho was one of 14 siblings, was born in central London to parents George and Florence on September 15, 1923.

He started work as a delivery boy when he was 14 and met his late wife, Betty, when he was 15. They married at All Saints Church, Kings Cross, London, on Christmas Day 1943, and had three children, Alan, 65, Pamela, 60, and Lyn, 54.

Ted worked as a postman, then became a parcel delivery driver for Pentonville and Holloway prisons.

The family moved to Swindon in 1973 when Ted got a job as a storekeeper for the Post Office at the Dorcan Depot.

He started organising parties at the depot for disabled children and organised ballroom dances several times a year to raise funds to pay for them.

Ted was given the BEM after his depot manager nominated him for organising the parties .

“When he got the award he was really pleased, but he said to everybody it wasn’t just him making the parties a success, it was the team,” said Lyn, of Kingsdown.

The funeral service will take place at 1pm next Friday, January 11, at Rodbourne Cheney Baptist Church, in Rodbourne Cheney Road. It will be followed by a cremation at Kingsdown at 2.15pm and a reception at the Kingsdown Pub at 3pm.

Family flowers only are requested but donations can be made to Affected By Cancer c/o The Co-operative Funeralcare in Cricklade Road by phoning 01793 534759.