A PRESTON nun has scooped a top award from the University of Central Lancashire.

Sister Caroline Mary Kissane, 33, was presented with the Mary Hodkinson Prize for Nurses following her performance while studying for her nursing diploma.

Sister Caroline, who belongs to the order of the Little Sisters of the Poor at the Help the Aged home, Preston, beat off tough competition from younger students to gain top marks on the course and was rewarded with a certificate and a £500 cheque.

Now the kind-hearted nun has bought a much needed patient hoist for the older Sisters residing at the Garstang Road convent, on the same site as the elderly residence.

To complete the course and come out with top marks, Sister Caroline had to pass a string of tough exams as well as a challenging stretch of work experience.

"The course was quite hard and working full-time in Blackpool on placement was challenging," she said. "I was shocked when they told me I had won. I made them check again. I didn't think an oldie like me could beat all these youngsters."

Since joining the Birmingham branch of the Little Sisters of the Poor Order, aged 19, Sister Caroline, has travelled around Europe to complete her studies.

Following a two-and-a-half year stay in Dublin, Ireland, where all trainees from Europe are first stationed, she was given her first mission in Glasgow, working with frail residents.

From Scotland she moved to France where she spent a short time in Paris before moving to the Order's Mother House in Brittany.

Later she came back to Britain and joined the Preston branch of the Order to further her nursing skills.

Mary Hodkinson was a pioneer in the nursing profession and dedicated herself to the cause of those unable to fight for themselves.