AS Tom Weaver will testify, you are never too old to find love – and it can come right out of the blue.

After his wife of 38 years lost her battle with illness and two of his children passed away, he felt desperate and admits he was on the brink of suicide.

But a phonecall from an old friend, 71-year-old Jean Harrison, set the 86-year-old on a path to happiness which has seen his life turn around.

Now, the couple are looking forward to tying the knot after getting engaged last year, and have set the date for Saturday, September 20, at St Augustine’s Church.

Tom and Jean met for the first time in the 1990s when they worked together as cleaners at Kingsdown Social Club.

He was her supervisor, and the pair were part of a strong group of friends, including their partners at the time.

“We were great friends,” said Tom.

“It was like a family there, the four of us, me and Joan and Jean and Fred. We treated each other with respect, like a family.

“She turned round to our area manager one day and asked him if it was possible to fall in love at first sight. That was about 14 years ago.

“When the place closed down, soon after we parted ways, and that was that.”

Loneliness took hold after Joan and Fred both died, leaving Tom and Jean with gaping holes in their lives. Tom’s mood was becoming unbearable before a phone call from Joan pulled him back from the brink.

“I was suicidal when she phoned me,” he said.

“It started as a friendship really, all I wanted was company.

“I looked after my wife for four years while she was ill with dementia and COPD, congestion of the lungs through smoking.

“I lost my daughter, Catherine, five years ago and my son, Raymond, three years ago. She had a congenital heart problem.

“He took his children on holiday, felt a pain in his chest and went into the toilet, left them sitting on a wall, and never came out.

“Things were getting on top of me.”

Jean said: “I went two years without speaking to him after Fred died.

“I was pining and I didn’t know what to do with myself.

“When I did decide to ring him, I asked how Joan was and he said she had passed away.

“After Fred died I just forgot about the world. My daughter Caroline looked after me so well in those years, but now I have Tom.”

Jean asked Tom to come round for a cup of coffee, but it would not be so simple. It took Tom three weeks to find her house, but he wouldn’t give up.

“I thought she said Northern Road, when she actually lived on Norton Road,” said Tom.

“I’m glad I found her in the end.”

After the reconciliation, the pair spent more and more time together, going to Tom’s daughter-in-law’s birthday.

The next day Jean proposed, but they both knew it was what they wanted.

“That day I had been getting a terrible pain in my chest and thought I was coming down with a heart attack,” Tom said.

“Out of the blue she phones me and asked if I wanted to marry her. The pain just disappeared.”

Originally hailing from Treorchy, Tom wanted to do things the traditional way.

“I proposed the old Welsh way, down on one knee holding two love spoons,” he said.

“Then it was official.”

Between them, the happy couple have four children, two step-children, 13 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren, and more than 60 people are expected on the big day.

“They were over the moon when they found out,” said Jean. “I’m getting a bit shaky now, but excited.”