JACK Andow, who has made a name for his tapestries, has sent the Queen one as a birthday present.

Now the 76-year-old Ludlow charity champion and campaigner for the disabled has received a reply from Buckingham Palace thanking him for his work which took more than 200 hours.

Jack, who copes with health problems including diabetes and cancer, has raised thousands of pounds for good causes since he started making the tapestries in 1995.

He has been recognised with a Ludlow Town Council Civic Award and last year received a British Empire Medal.

An enthusiastic monarchist, he has had his letter of thanks sent on behalf of the Queen framed.

The 76-year-old Liverpool-born former Royal Naval man is not what people would typically think of when it comes to integrated work with needle and thread.

But in the past 21 years he had produced more than 300 tapestries – many of them of Ludlow and the surrounding area – and has raised £37,000 for local charities.

His tapestries have been used on the Ludlow shopping bag and calendar.

What makes this truly remarkable is that Jack is severely handicapped with multiple sclerosis and has been affected with the disease for all of this time.

However, while this hampers his mobility – he is confined to a wheelchair – it has taken nothing from his dexterity or concentration.

“I can spend 10 hours at a time working on a tapestry and spent between 200 and 300 hours working on the tapestry for the Queen,” said Jack.

He produces some designs from his own imagination and also works from photographs.