Nurse's joy at royal street party honour

Roz Hargreaves, of Clover Road, Chorley, has been invited to attend a street party on The Mall in London.

It will be the largest ever street party on The Mall and is being held on Sunday, June 15 to mark the Queen’s patronage of more than 600 charities as part of her 90th birthday celebrations.

There will be lunch and entertainment, with the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the royal family in attendance.

The 37-year-old has been invited to attend to recognise her fund-raising efforts for the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) Foundation, of which the Queen is a patron.

Roz, a mental health nurse for Bupa, said: “It just dropped on my doorstep. I didn’t know anything about it. I opened the post and I saw it was from the RCN and thought it was my membership card.

“I read it and didn’t know if it was right. I rang my mum and told her.”

She added: “I’m shocked and honoured at the same time to be chosen to go.”

She started raising money while a student at the University of Central Lancashire as part of a committee and has continued since graduating two years ago.

Thousands of pounds have been raised through comedy nights, cake sales and book stalls at the university.

Roz has also completed the 10km Great Manchester Run three times to boost funds.

And she plans to keep raising money for the RCN Foundation, which offers financial support and career development opportunities to nurses, midwives, health care assistants and nursing students.

Roz, who has a six-year-old daughter, said: “I have friends who have struggled financially through nursing and it’s a way of supporting them.”

It is not the first time that nursing has taken Roz to London - two years ago she met Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street at a reception celebrating the work of nurses, carers and other health professionals.