SHE may have announced that she will be stepping down as chairman at Bolton Little Theatre — but Elizabeth Tatman certainly is not slowing down any time soon.

A founder member and former president of the Rotary Club of Bolton Daybreak, Elizabeth will continue her work with the organisation as well as supporting Bolton Little Theatre's archive and wardrobe departments.

To the average person, the grandmother-of-seven has a jam-packed schedule with very little time to "do nothing" — but Elizabeth takes it all in her stride and still finds a moment to enjoy a spot of knitting and look after two of her grandchildren.

Elizabeth, aged 82, said: "I've just done what I've done. I suppose looking back it is quite a lot. But I have always liked a challenge.

"The thing is, if you live a full and active life you create these little opportunities to do nothing occasionally."

Born in Walmersley, Bury, Elizabeth's main aspirations as a youngster were to follow in her father's and grandfather's footsteps and work in the cotton trade — oh, and to own a motorbike.

However back in times when it was not done for women to take on "male" roles, she trained as a teacher before meeting her husband Michael, whom she married in 1950.

She said: "When I realised I couldn't be a fighter pilot I decided I wanted to do what my father did and work in the cotton trade. Sadly women were not welcome in that line of work back then. So instead I went to do teacher training college."

After training as a teacher Elizabeth, who lives in Astley Bridge, has worked with services to families and children throughout her career — an achievement which was recognised in the Queen's honours list in 2013 when she received an MBE.

Her love of learning did not stop there — she completed an Open University degree in history and education and worked a series of jobs across the North West before taking the position as pre-school advisor for the local authority.

Elizabeth's achievements were awarded with an MBE from the Queen for services to children and families for her work as founder and chairman of Bolton Toy Library.

She said: "I'll never forget it was freezing cold and we nearly missed our train, but the palace was beautiful and the staff were fantastic, caring and courteous. Prince Charles gave me the award and he was lovely. It was a fantastic day."

Perhaps Elizabeth's biggest challenge — and the one she is most proud of — has been her work in Romania.

Elizabeth said: "In 1992 I was chair of the National Association of Toy Libraries and we went to the opening of the first toy library in Moscow, Russia.

"When we came back Michael saw an article in the Bolton Evening News about a new rotary club which was meeting in the morning. I got involved and the club raised funds to build a kindergarten in Lasi.

"For the opening they wanted a Rotarian to go to make sure that the money was being spent on what it was raised for. It was an eye opening experience. It was a poor country but we were very well looked after and welcomed with open arms."

But her work there was not over — 18 months later she went back to train hospital staff and build a toy library before developing and running courses for more than 1,000 people who work with children in hospitals, institutions and schools.

She said: "What you often find is that people start something really good but never go back to it. I went back and spent time with nursing staff and decided to help improve the conditions for the children in the hospital. I was put forward to train up the hospital staff on the importance of child development and play.

"As there were no toys in the hospital we built a toy library that they could borrow from. I have been back more or less every year since. It's my second home."

Despite stepping down as chairman at Bolton Little Theatre after five years, Elizabeth will still be heavily involved with the group.

She said: "I'll still be working in the wardrobe and doing the archives. It's time to give someone else the opportunity to take the role."