A care home resident at Southlands Bupa Care Home in Harrogate has celebrated turning 100 years old this week.
Kathleen Pickles celebrated her milestone birthday on 1st February, surrounded by her friends and carers in Harrogate. Staff at the home organised a luxurious afternoon tea and gifted her with a mountain of cards, gifts and a homemade birthday cake. She received over 100 birthday cards from the local community, after Southlands spread the news that Kathleen was turning 100 years old.
In her youth, Kathleen was a land girl on her dad’s farm and lived in and around Leeds for most of her life. After relocating to Harrogate, she worked as a bookkeeper at Topham Phillips. She moved to Southlands in January 2021 and recently celebrated her 1 year ‘Bupaversary’ at the care home.
Kathleen has made many friends during her year at the home and has continued to pursue as many hobbies as possible. Some of her passions include photography, animals, beautiful scenery, travelling, cruises, and letter writing to all her friends.
Kathleen also enjoys a gin and tonic and as carers at the home know how much she enjoys her gin, they decided to reach out to Aber Falls Distillery, who make a range of flavoured gins and liqueurs. The company were thrilled to help make Kathleen’s 100th birthday even more special and gifted her a bottle of their Welsh Dry Gin.
When asked about her love for the liquor, Kathleen said:
I really enjoy a Gin and Tonic with ice and lemon and was delighted with my gift from Aber Falls Distillery, along with all the other lovely gifts I have received. They will definitely help keep the celebrations going for a while.
Helene Ballinger, Resident Experience Manager, said:
We’re thrilled to be helping Kathleen celebrate her 100th birthday at Southlands. It’s an incredible achievement to reach 100 years, she has so many stories to tell and is an inspiration to us all. Kathleen is such a character and is adored by staff at the home. We wanted to do something special for her, and given her love of gin, we reached out to some gin distilleries for a gift. Aber Falls eagerly got back to us and were happy to help. The look on Kathleen’s face when she received the bottle was priceless.
