WHEN Shirley Bright was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis it spurred her into action.

Since 1996 grandmother Mrs Bright, 64, of Beechcroft Avenue, Barnehurst, has been staging concerts to raise cash for the MS Trust, which supports 85,000 people in the UK.

When the illness forced her out of amateur dramatics, she gathered a group of friends and began touring nursing homes, sheltered housing and pensioner groups putting on shows in aid of the trust.

And in the past decade they have staged more than 400 events, from Chu Chin Chow to My Fair Lady.

The group has raised nearly £21,000 for the charity.

Mrs Bright's fundraising and raising of awareness of MS has helped the charity successfully campaign for a dedicated MS specialist nurse for Bexley. The MS Trust will be involved in the specialist training before the new nurse takes up the post.