Joyce Tribe's life changed completely the day she met a stranger after hurting herself in fall near her local shop.

Her health was deteriorating and it was the third time the former World War II WAAF had crashed to the ground.

Shortly afterwards an unknown shop assistant got in touch with the Royal British Legion asking if there was anything they could do to help Joyce, who is now aged 74.

The request was passed on immediately to the RAF Benevolent Fund and the result was that two years ago the fund gave the Lechlade pensioner her own custom-built electric scooter.

"It has changed my life completely," Joyce said.

"Before then my health meant I was restricted on practically everything I wanted to do.

"Now I have my freedom and independence back.

"The scooter has a range of 25 miles before it needs recharging and it means I can now go down the shop and also pop out and do other things that were out of bounds to me."

Joyce had joined the Women's Auxilliary Air Force when she was 17 and served during the war as a carpenter.

When hostilities ceased she re-joined as a cook but this ended when she had a serious accident which left her in a coma for three weeks and forced her to leave the RAF.

However, she was able to pursue a successful career in nursing at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford and later moved to Lechlade to care for her life-long friend until she died.

Joyce's own health deteriorated and things were looking bleak until the RAF Benevolent Fund stepped in to help her.

Joyce was at the fund's headquarters at RAF Fairford this week to help the Army launch its own national benevolent fund enterprises from the same venue.

Patrick Shervington, the director of the ABF Enterprises said: "As the Army's national charity, the ABF is constantly looking for ways to become more effective, thereby increasing our ability to provide help to those in need."

RAFBF spokeswoman Patti Heady said that the fund was now spending £1,700 every hour of every day helping former and serving service personnel and their families.

"Last year we helped 30,000 men, women and children who are all part of the RAF family," she said.