Patsy Drysdale, the 79-year-old grandmother of seven from Stranraer, won this year's joint Specsavers and Age Concern, Grandparent of the Year competition. She received new hearing aids and glasses from the Specsavers hearing centre and optical store in Glasgow's Trongate Centre, as part of her prize.
Patsy says: 'I'm so happy with the hearing aids. I've had days and days of sunshine since I got them and when I sit in the garden I can hear the birds whistling and singing. I feel on top of the world and I've got so much new energy.
'I can't remember when my hearing started to go but it was years ago. I don't think I knew just how bad it was until I had my hearing test up in Glasgow. It was scary at first hearing all the traffic and noise in the street but I'm getting used to it now.
'I had got into the habit of reading people's lips to understand what they were saying but now I can hear them. My family and my friends have noticed the difference and I think they like not having to shout at me any more.'
The Grandparent of the Year competition, now in its 17th year, is a celebration of how important grandparents are to family life. It gives grandchildren the chance to say thank you for all the love and support they receive from their grandparents.
Patsy was short-listed for the national award from hundreds of entries, along with four other national finalists from across the UK.
She was nominated by her granddaughter Gina, aged 13, to thank her gran for taking her in when it looked she was going to have to go in to care, following the death of her mother. Patsy has supported Gina and the teenager was there when Patsy needed her, nursing her after a cancerous tumour was removed from her lungs.
Patsy's prize included a £3,000 cash prize, free eye and hearing care for the next ten years, eye care vouchers to the value of £750 and hearing vouchers to the value of £2,000, courtesy of Specsavers.