After being “bored to tears” during a hospital stay, a Hampshire entrepreneur was prompted to come out of retirement to start her own business reading to others.

Wendy Smallman, 70, from Chandler’s Ford, decided to start up Reading Therapies after she was in hospital with a minor stroke over the summer.

She said: “I pined for a great novel, but I couldn’t concentrate with the lighting and the general hustle and bustle of a hospital going about its business. I needed a reader.”

Reading Therapies already works with Alzheimer’s patients in the region, and is currently in talks with a prison, where Wendy hopes to further expand her new business.

To find out more email wendy@reading|therapies.co.uk.