Bognor Regis care home calls for birthday cards for woman turning 100

Born October 26 1922, Marge has no close family members and, with centennial letters from the newly crowned King still quite rare, staff were worried her big day wouldn’t be the experience it could be.

So, eager to prove how deeply she’s loved, activities manager Rosie Hardy took matters into her own hands. "Marge is just such a lovely lady and I thought if she wakes up on her birthday to a couple of cards from us that might really lovely, but she won’t realise how special she is, what an achievement it is to reach that age,” she explained.

The response was ‘overwhelming’, with people from all corners of the community stepping up to mark her big day. “I’ve messaged at least 350 people back,” Mrs Hardy said. “And we had twenty physical cards come through over the weekend. We’ve got a balloon already. Marge hasn’t got a clue about any of it, we’re keeping it a surprise. We were only expecting a couple of responses – I thought that would be really sweet, but I had no idea it would go as crazy as it did."

In a way, it’s no surprise. Mrs Hollands has lived at Normanton Lodge for two years and, in that time, she’s had a huge impact on residents and staff. Mrs Hardy praised her ‘wicked sense of humour’, adding “she’s always making everyone laugh.”

To write to Mrs Holland, get in touch with the team at Normanton Lodge Care Home.

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