A GRANDMOTHER from Grove is launching a slimming group aimed especially at the elderly.

Barbara Izzard, 75, will host the morale-boosting chat group at her home and garden.

Senior slimmers are invited to come and share their struggles in a safe space and even swap clothes as they shed the stone.

Every member will be able to weigh themselves in private in the kitchen and their weight won't be revealed unless they choose to divulge it.

Mrs Izzard is no stranger to losing weight: when she was younger, she clocked up 25 stone on the scales, but managed to beat her bulk.

She also used to run slimming classes in 1990s, although she hasn't done them for years.

Now she says she has identified a gap in the weight-loss world in Wantage for rotund retirees.

The grandmother-of-five said: "This is a massive problem in older people: I've got quite a few friends just waiting for me to start the group.

"I'm 75 myself and I think people are living longer and are more aware of their health issues.

"When they are obese they don't feel safe going out walking unless they are with someone, but we can start them exercising by just walking in the garden."

Mrs Izzard, who grew up in Oxford, married her husband Raymond in 1959 and they had three sons.

She started her first slimming group in the 90s when she was the senior receptionist at Wantage hospital in Garston Lane.

Doctors referred overweight patients to her and she helped them get fit.

She now believes emotional and psychological support are as important as exercise and diet.

She said: "The thing you have to stop is yo-yo dieting, when you lose weight and you're so pleased with what you've done that you eat what you want.

"What they need is knowledge and sympathy and I've got both because I have studied and suffered.

"People aren't obese because they are hungry, they are obese because they ate more than their body needed so there is no use comparing people because everyone is different."

Mrs Izzard hopes to persuade GPs at Wantage Health Centre to refer patients to her group.

She also plans to take her slimmers on day tips to the seaside on morale-boosting holidays.

She added: "I am really looking forward to it.

"It will be aimed at old people, but if youngsters want me to do another group then I'll start another one."

To get in touch with Mrs Izzard directly call her on 01235 223670.