Iris Askew welcomed some special guests for her 100th birthday party
An Enfield resident celebrated her 100th birthday with a visit from the mayor and card from the King.
Iris Askew was born in 1924, the same year that saw the first refrigerator being marketed in the UK and the Met Office broadcast its first shipping forecast.
Iris, who is a resident of Woodbury Manor Care Home in Clay Hill, celebrated her 100th birthday in style. She was surrounded by friends, family and the care home’s dedicated team, who organised a tea party.
The eldest of eight children, Iris was 15 when the Second World War broke out. Her first job was in a pencil factory and she remembers a bomb dropping on part of the building, killing several of her co-workers. Married at 21 to her beloved Alf, who at that time was in the Royal Navy, the couple had three children. They enjoyed nearly 50 years together, with Alf sadly passing away just before their golden wedding anniversary.
Special guests at Iris’s party were Enfield mayor Mohammad Islam and Enfield’s deputy lord lieutenant, Ann Cable MBE, who is the local representative of King Charles. She brought with her a 100th birthday card for Iris signed by the monarch himself.
Everyone enjoyed a wonderful buffet together with celebratory bubbles, while Woodbury Manor was decorated with special balloons to mark the occasion and, said one guest: “Iris looked like a queen herself!”
Berly Herlihey, Iris’s daughter, thanked Woodbury Manor’s manager Valentine Ogundipe and activities co-ordinator Jeya Piratheepan for their hard work in putting on the party “A massive thank you to Valentine and his team,” she said. “They are absolutely wonderful, so caring and approachable and mum really likes it here.”
Iris said the whole day was a lovely surprise and thanked everybody for sharing it with her.
The party was also attended by the CEO of AgeCare Care Homes, Dr Vishen Ramkisson. Dr Ramkisson said: “I am so pleased that Iris had a fantastic birthday and very proud of the team here at Woodbury Manor for helping to make it so special for her.”
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