A GRANDMOTHER who is one of Oxford’s most hard working volunteers is desperately trying to find the owner of a gold locket that was handed to her while she was on the reception desk of a specialist cancer hospital.

Terrie Reynolds believes the locket, which is visibly old and has pictures of children inside it, is of great sentimental value to whoever lost it and wants to see the jewellery reunited with its owner.

A crucifix hangs on the same gold chain of the locket, which was handed to the 78-year-old while she was volunteering at the Churchill Hospital at the end of last month.

She said: “I can only guess it’s an old lady and the pictures are of her children.

"When I look at it it makes me feel a bit queer because it must be of great sentimental value to somebody. If I had lost it I would be gutted.

“It must have been a woman who had come in for a mammogram – but nobody has come forward to claim it yet.

“I’ve been really worried about it. I’ve just got to find the person this belongs to. Somebody has got to recognise it.”

Always eager to help others, Ms Reynolds appeared in the Oxford Mail in February this year when she was branded one of Oxford’s hardest working volunteers.

The cancer survivor, of Pheasant Walk, Littlemore, volunteers at the Helen and Douglas House hospice shop in Rose Hill, as well as the Churchill and John Radcliffe Hospitals, often working up to five hours a day, six days a week.

When working at the shop, Ms Reynolds’s role includes working on the till and keeping the jewellery in check. At the hospitals she works as a receptionist.

At the Churchill Hospital, a centre of excellence for cancer services, Ms Reynolds has been able to draw on her own experiences surviving breast cancer twice to support others.

Ms Reynolds, who took up volunteering to fill her time after she retired, encouraged more people to volunteer and reap the rewards that come from helping others and socialising.

She now hopes somebody can put an end to her sleepless nights by coming forward and claiming the jewellery, which she believes is very close to somebody’s heart.

The grandmother said: “I will be thrilled if we can find the person who owns it through the Oxford Mail, because it’s clearly been with somebody for a very long time.”

Ms Reynolds has asked anybody who recognises the jewellery to call her on 07944535772.

To verify ownership, callers will have to relay the message that is inscribed on the back of the locket.