After 35 years offering help, hope and advice to the most vulnerable people in the extended Falmouth area and wider Cornwall Jenny Richards has taken a well-deserved retirement from a life of public service.

Jenny was the popular manager of Falmouth Citizens Advice Bureau for 20 years before becoming Cornwall’s first elder client coordinator within a legal practice, with Falmouth firm Hine Downing.

From helping clients fill in complex forms so they could receive the funding they were entitled to, to liaising with local authorities over the protection of vulnerable people at risk of abuse, Jenny has seen it all.

She said: "I have had an incredible career and have been so lucky to work with wonderful people through many years – my colleagues at Hine Downing and with the Beacon Partnership, the brilliant volunteers at the CAB and of course people of all ages and backgrounds.

"People face so many challenges and during my time I’ve seen many changes, particularly as funding has been steadily stripped away.

"There are ever increasing problems with homelessness, money, complexities of life and care in later life.

"People often don’t know what help they are entitled to – or if they do know, the application forms are often so complex they have trouble filling them in. With all these things I’ve been able to help and it’s been a real privilege.”

Jenny’s warm professionalism will be missed by colleagues at Hine Downing, many of whom have been able to ask her expert advice on behalf of their own older family and friends.

Senior partner Anthony Deacon said: "Jenny has been a wonderful presence in our Hine Downing team.

“She has worked with clients across all of our departments – anywhere that legal or financial advice needs to be combined with welfare support.

“Her depth of knowledge, empathy and kindness built up through years of public service is hard to replicate, but we will of course continue this invaluable work through our elder client department.”

Jenny’s retirement is unlikely to be a quiet one since she has lived in Cornwall all her life and has a huge network of friends and contacts from, amongst others, her lifelong membership of Falmouth Methodist Church, her chairmanship of the Friends of Duchy Opera and trusteeship of Falmouth Age Concern.