Enfield Mayor And King’s Representative Attend Care Home Resident’s 100th Birthday Party
The year 1924 saw the Meteorological Office broadcast its first shipping forecast, Team GB won nine gold medals in the Paris Olympics, the first refrigerator was marketed in the UK, and Iris Askew was born.
Iris, who is a resident of Woodbury Manor care home in Enfield, celebrated her 100th birthday in style recently, surrounded by friends, family and the care home’s dedicated team, who organised a sumptuous tea party to celebrate Iris’s big day.
The eldest of eight children, Iris was 15 when World War Two 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 the Mayor of Enfield, Cllr Mohammad Islam, and Ann Cable MBE, Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Enfield, who represented His Majesty the King and brought with her a 100th birthday card from the King and Queen.
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 CEO of AgeCare Care Homes, Dr Vishen Ramkisson, Head of Business Nileshi Parabat and other members of the senior management team. 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.”
